Thread: Western Red Cedar ..I think I'm suffering toxic reactions

You would know if it was a cedar as it would have a strong aromatic aroma especially when being cut or sanded.

I have the same reaction and it triggers my asthma if I work with it without gloves and really good dust extraction.

A few months ago (before I installed the vacuum switches to prevent machines from being used unless they were connected to DC) I walked into the mens shed and could smell it immediately. I wondered around and saw someone had been using a belt sander without DC and it was covered with cedar dust. Within 30 seconds I had a mild asthma attack and so I had to leave.

If it does trigger an allergic reaction you need to be very careful with it as it is a wood dust sensitiser meaning it can then trigger reactions to other wood. A mask is near useless with this stuff as it will trigger a reaction when it contacts eyes and skin. As well as good DC you will need really good dust collection, long sleeves and long pants and gloves

Working outside with it is no guarantee either.

Thanks BobL
The wood has no real Cedar smell .... I understand the wood is 40 years old ..
The smell it does have is a bit like the smell from cut marine play ... hard to explain ... but not a nice aromatic.

I wear a respirator when hand sanding ... but no eye cover ... apart from my glasses.

The lingering dust in the workshop mas been made worse doe to high winds lately

I think I will ditch the last 3 X 1.7M lengths ... might use for steps in the garden

Rob

I live in the middle of western red cedar forests and the mills. The wind goes whooping through those mills like hurricanes.
You describe cedar sensitivities. So be it. Any more and you really should take better care of yourself.
Any small investigation with a cheap microscope will show you the difference between the cedars (conifers) and everything else.

BobL got it right, the dust, even outdoors, is just plain nasty.
As a carver, I don't care to snort the chips so I'm OK.

Originally Posted by Tahlee

The wood has no real Cedar smell .... I understand the wood is 40 years old ..

I pulled a piece of WRC from the stash behind my shed. It's 24 years old and I can just smell it when I belt sand a piece.
My pieces are grey on the outside from some sun exposure and much browner and duller in colour in the inside than your pieces .
Your pieces are also thicker and as they appear to have retained much more colour this suggests they should also have some aroma but then maybe not.

The smell it does have is a bit like the smell from cut marine play ... hard to explain ... but not a nice aromatic.

Mine also has that smell about it.

I wear a respirator when hand sanding ... but no eye cover ... apart from my glasses.

Yeah this is why OHS experts advocate full dust extraction first, and then wear a respirator on top of that if required.
If you want to handle it again you'll need gloves now that you are sensitised to it

The lingering dust in the workshop mas been made worse doe to high winds lately

I would have thought that wind would have helped move the dust out of your workshop. I'm a big fan of natural ventilation - I see the dust levels at the mens shed go down significantly when they open e up those double garage roller doors and open the side doors.

I think I will ditch the last 3 X 1.7M lengths ... might use for steps in the garden

Shame about that.

Western Red Cedar causes nasal cancer.
There was a TAFE teacher from the ACT who died from it.
H.

Originally Posted by clear out

Western Red Cedar causes nasal cancer.
There was a TAFE teacher from the ACT who died from it.
H.

All wood dust can cause nasal, throat and stomach cancer which is why it's been listed on the National Report on cancer since 2002 and in other jurisdictions going back to 1994.
All dust contributes to cardiovascular diseases and strokes in otherwise healthy people.

WRC has a 500 ppb (mg/m^3) OHS limit for healthy woodworkers which is half the 1000 ppb limit for hardwoods.
However, if you have any sort of significant health problems or are a senior, its better to operate at the WHO limit of 100ppb and if you have any sort of sensitivity to it, only you can determine what you can handle.

Anyways ... after much grief and extra care this is how it turner out .... all through dowel joinery ... finished with an oil

IMG_4016.jpg

I live in the western red cedar, hemlock biogeoclimatic zone (ICH = Interior Cedar Hemlock).
Best described as the world's last temperate zone rain forest.
Tasmania should also qualify.

Exposure to WRC dust is duration dependent.
The local mills and mill people are very diligent about dust extraction.

Look at a map.
On the coast, most of the WRC is really chocolate brown.
Against the western wet slope of the Rockies, the WRC is every shade from white to chocolate.
We even get rainbow cedar which is beautifully banded, dark and light, through the whole log.

I would be definitely banishing it to the far corner of the garden,
and try something that agrees with you a little more.
As has been already mentioned, the sensitivity can now become an issue ,
so try and pick your battles for a while,
and stick with timber that you have had no reaction to previously, for the time being.
It sounds quite unpleasant, I hope it all goes away soon.

Exactly the same kicking my backside