Excellent article debunking the urbanm legends and internet myth of shell danger

[fazool]

This is a very long article every luthier might read to put their mind at ease

[Ned Milburn]

I didn't read the whole article (seems like the author is a bit stuck on the issue, since he researched and wrote such a diatribe) but I have this to add.

I used to work as a lifeguard when I was a kid. During our training, we were taught about filtration systems. A common kind was a shell powder filter. This powder, it was reported, was dangerous because it would lodge in the lungs which then couldn't expel the powder.

Nothing about toxins or poisons, but just about a physical obstruction that is not water-soluble and cannot be expelled from the lungs. This seems entirely logical to me, and isn't worth researching to prove or disprove.

When I work with bone, a similar substance (in my limited knowledge), I am aware that the dust could be a danger to me. So, I avoid breathing massive quantities of the bone dust I release by using dust collection with my belt/disc sander and when I sand or file by hand, I allow the dust to fall and vacuum or collect and dispose the dust while trying to avoid making it airborne.

Common sense should rule when working with potentially hazardous materials - dusts, vapours, or elsewise.

[arie]

imo, mostly a collection of anecdotal bs and internet hoodoo. no actual medical fact, no actual statistical data, hard to verify references to "papers" and quotes (performed at what level of scientific investigation?), and an industrial study from 1876. the danger is from impairment of the lung's functioning caused by the embedment of shell particulate and the body's attempts to rid the lungs of the contaminant. huffing clouds of portland cement dust would do the same.

his last closing statement pretty much sums it up:

""Given a clean bill of health, adequate safeguards for shell dust would then be nothing more than to employ one or more of the following: a close-fitting dust mask (which does interfere with being able to blow dust away from the cut while sawing), an open-air work space, a nearby fan, a vacuum fitted with a fine mesh screen next to the cutting board, and a change of heavily soiled clothing and a good scrubbing of any dust covered skin. Since fumes and chemically active agents aren't a significant factor except when processing large quantities of raw shell there's no need for the average craftsperson to use elaborate masks and air compressor feed systems. Keep it simple and comfortable, and enjoy many healthy years working with shell!""


but i do suggest that we do a scraping of the guy's lungs and see what's really in there.

[Running Dog]

The author is Chuck Erickson, aka The Duke of Pearl, who has probably contributed more to instrument inlay than anyone else. He and Larry Sifel invented the ubiquitous "abalam", Chuck has supplied most factories and independent luthiers and inlay artists with shell since the 1970's, AND he has investigated the spurious claims of shell dust toxicity more thoroughly than anyone I know of.

My reading of the article (and yes, I read all of it) is that there is relatively little hard science about the dangers of cutting shell as we do in lutherie. Processing raw shell in large quantities is a different matter. If you've been in the business for any time, you will have heard that cutting shell releases toxic gases, that the dust has virtually magical qualities to destroy you, and so on. There is obviously a danger from particles, as Chuck points out, but he reports that he could find nothing beyond that. Nothing about poisons, toxic gas, or arsenic, cyanide, or Kryptonite!

Bone, by the way, is not chemically similar to shell. I have no idea of the relative dangers of dust from either but I do know this: The one material common to wood shops that is a proven carcinogen is wood dust. Chuck's advice to wear a "close-fitting dust mask" applies to many activities in the shop, shell cutting no more than others.

[fazool]

In 2012 the NIH added "wood dust" as a known carcinogen, however, they did not sufficiently define which species of wood dust, nor the particulate size.

This omission of detail challenges the credibility of the science and the "study".

For example 500 micron dust particles will not get embedded in your alveoli through respiration, whereas 5 micron particles might. Huge, massive difference. The hysteria over mesothelioma is similar (and I don't take that lightly as my favorite professor was a non-smoker and died of lung cancer): free particulate asbestos is dangerous. captive asbestos is not.

I do believe some wood dust, in fine enough size, with sufficiently massive dosage could cause chromosomal damage to weak DNA of lab rats, resulting in cancer. I also know for a fact that, given the right circumstances, a 747 could fly up your butt, but its unlikely.

My brother-in-law did a study in med school and found that a dime is cancerous. You just have to manipulate the dosage and anything can be declared cancerous.

Think of the topic of shell dust. Everyone believed it must be true but the reasons were everything from dust stuck in your lungs, to toxins, to cancer, to poison gas.

But it was accepted as "fact".

Intuitively I just have an inability to believe wood dust is naturally cancerous.

I worry that the declaration of wood dust being cancerous is overblown and another example of non-relevant hysteria. Generally speaking, the most common cancer causing agents are synthesized (man-made) chemicals, not naturally occurring organic materials.
After all, wouldn't all the woodpeckers be dead by now?



I found this post on a woodworker forum that lists several citations and publications about wood dust

---------------------------------
I just saw an excellent book on wood dust, WOODSHOP DUST CONTROL. This book is available in many woodworker supply stores including The Woodworkers' Store, 800-279-4441. Price is $19.95.

For more technical matters, the expert that I rely on is Dr. Fred Lamb, Brooks Forest Products Center, Ramble Road, Blacksburg, VA 24063-0503.

Professor Gene Wengert is Extension Specialist in Wood Processing at the Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Click on Wood Doctor Archives to peruse past answers.

If you would like to obtain a copy of "The Wood Doctor's Rx", visit www.fdmbookstore.bigstep.com/ for more information.

- See more at: http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas....ZwHUQrPg.dpuf
--------------------------------------

[bobby b]

Depending on the wood and of course the individual....some wood(dust, handleing etc...) can be quite toxic and/or downright dangerous....

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

[KevinLPederson]

There are build threads on this forum of guys standing in front of belt sanders or hand held sanders, just plowing away without a dust mask on. I can't get away with that. I wear a 3M style P100 particulate cartridge for everything I do. And I change the filters a lot. Its just precautionary, and I can see where ANY atomized dust particle can be hazardous in large quantities. They are hazardous to me in small quantities.

Good dust collection AND filtration, which are two different things, is what is key. My dust collector filters down to one micron, still not enough for me. Most dust bag collectors filter to 3 to 5 micron. The dust that you can not see (less that one micron) is the hazardous stuff.

My friend works in the concrete industry and they make 2000 cfm HEPA filter air cleaners...he brought his down to my shop one day and this filters down to 99.7% of ALL particulates down to 0.03 micron. This is pretty much everything.

If anyone wants a link I can look it up.

Kevin.

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by KevinLPederson

My friend works in the concrete industry and they make 2000 cfm HEPA filter air cleaners...he brought his down to my shop one day and this filters down to 99.7% of ALL particulates down to 0.03 micron. This is pretty much everything.

If anyone wants a link I can look it up.

Kevin.

Sounds sweet! If you can find a link I'd be interested in taking a peek.

[KevinLPederson]

the machine http://www.novatekco.com/html/AirFiltration.html CLICK ON Novair 2000 - red bar in the middle of the web page. This is 1000 cfm on low and 2000 cfm on high of HEPA filtration. You could virturally work without a mask on.

what to google if you want more brands/information etc : negative air scrubber

Kevin.

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by KevinLPederson

the machine http://www.novatekco.com/html/AirFiltration.html CLICK ON Novair 2000 - red bar in the middle of the web page. This is 1000 cfm on low and 2000 cfm on high of HEPA filtration. You could virturally work without a mask on.

what to google if you want more brands/information etc : negative air scrubber

Kevin.

Thanks for posting the link, Kevin. Looks like a great product. I've been considering building my own air filtration system, but this gives me another option.