Allergic Reaction to Red Oak Ply

[potomac]

I know, I know, no self-respecting boat builder would ever build with red oak. This is not technically a wooden boat question. I have been building several bookcases as a component of some built-ins for my living room. I am using 3/4'' red oak ply which I pre-primed and painted using Behr primer and semi-gloss paint. I had a rather dramatic reaction most noticeably on my forearm. It's as if where the sawdust from my circular saw hit my arm, erupted in hives, itchy and quite red. The same hives on my guide hand securing the saw against the cut guide. I also had some numbness in my lips and face, though no visible hives. Anybody else ever have a reaction to these materials? Do you think it was the paint, the wood, the glue between plies?

I know this isn't really a boat thread, but I also know a lot of you guys build a lot more than just boats.

Thanks- Aaron

[Paul Girouard]

One of my cabinet shop buddies had a bad reaction to Red Oak , every where you fold , elbows , knees , behind his ear , arm pits, eyes lids broke out in a red rash.

He went on a 30 fast , some odd thing to do with sour-kraut juice finally cleared out his system.

He'd processed thousands of B/F of R.Oak over years , so yes I've heard of reactions to R. Oak before .

[Ron Williamson]

Where's the plywood from,and what's the core?
If it's offshore,the core and glue could be almost anything.
R

[Bob Smalser]

The formaldehyde in the glue is also a potential culprit.

[stromborg]

I was just looking up toxicity of woods the other day after picking up some cocobolo to make into hardware for my KDI and then discovering it is relatively allergenic.

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-ar...-and-toxicity/

Seems like most woods are at some level at least sensitizers. Apparently DF causes "giddiness". And yes, red oaf causes reactions in some people. We used a lot of poplar at one of the scene shops I worked in, it always made my head feel funny when I ripped planks on the tablesaw.

Steve

[potomac]

Thankfully I'm done with all the cutting. I ended up wearing gloves, long sleeves, and jeans for the end of the fabrication. I put a little vasoline on my face. Not the most pleasant. The ply was from home depot, a US supplier. Don't get me started on the quality- voids all over and I had to pick through the piles to find good, consistent faces- and that at $45 a sheet. It's been ten years since I made bookshelves from ply- that was birch- and I would swear that even that short a time ago, the quality was higher. I guess that's why we pay what we do for marine grade. I'm hopeful it's not the glue as I have a glued lapstrake build in my immediate future and getting wrapped up like I'm going into a hot zone for the epoxy is trouble enough, I don't want to do it while cutting too.

[Mad Scientist]

...And yes, red oaf causes reactions in some people...

This might be an apt description of anybody foolish enough to use RO anywhere on a boat.

Tom

[seedy]

I was just looking at ply in the big box stores, also disappointed by the crap quality and also recall it wasn't that way. Wish I'd bought up a bunch in the 90's and put it away.

[Mrleft8]

The tiny little splinters you can get from radial cut R/O ply are horrible. I've had severe rashes on my fore arms,fingers, face and neck from that stuff, and it sure seems like it's the radial cut stuff, because I've used both radial cut, and plain sliced on a single job, and had no reaction from the plain sliced, but when I got around to cutting the radial sliced parts for the backs.... BAM! Thankfully it doesn't last long.

[jonboy]

Oak splinters often go septic when others don't though I'm not sure what red oak is.....apparently the highest cause of fatalities in Battle of Trafalgar type sea warfare was from septicaemia from wood 'shrapnel' wounds...think that most cannon ball and grape- shot type missiles weren't explosive like a modern shell, so when a twenty pound lump of cast iron hit the deck next to you, you may often have been missed but hit by the shattered oak planking....
Oak has a low pH so is relatively acidic...which is why it eats iron nails in a couple of years.

My experience is the dust from working modern bastard mahogonies is extremely irritating to breathe but I haven't had skin problems....but when working on antique true mahogany, honduran or cuban, the same doesn't happen....justt a personal observation...

[jausi001]

I've had serious rashes on my front hands,fingers, throat and face from that products, and it sure seems like it's the radial cut products, because I've used both radial cut, and simply cut up on a single job ..
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