Measuring dust in your shop

[Bob Eustace]

The very clever "gear guy" has written some interesting stuff on dust. Reckon its well worth a read and getting the meter suggested maybe.

http://woodgears.ca/dust/dylos.html

[Simops]

Certainly a most interesting article.......there is so much rhetoric out there that one becomes quite confused as to what or who to believe?

I guess live your life With the common sense it deserves and you should be good:)

Cheers

MT

[chiloquinruss]

Gosh I didn't know it was going to be that technical, when I saw the topic I was thinking 'measuring dust in my shop' as in inches of milli-meters! :D Good article. I have tried lots of different things and for the most part I can get it quite nice for working in the shop but whatever I have tried still doesn't do a good enough job for doing terrific finishes within the main shop. I found a neightbor that does lots of car restoration and has a killer pressurized paint setup big enough to paint a whole car (and he lets me use it, hurray). Good article, thanks for posting. Russ

[myxpykalix]

The way i measure dust in my shop is hold a ruler on the floor if it sinks down below 4 inches i know its time to clean!:eek:

Thats why i usually wear a mask when cutting because there is always going to be dust in the air. I find often that you come in and blow your nose and see plenty of dust in the snot. It makes you marvel at the inguinity of the human body and its "filter" but you have to wonder what is getting past it also.:eek:

[rb99]

The way i measure dust in my shop is hold a ruler on the floor if it sinks down below 4 inches i know its time to clean!:eek:

Thats why i usually wear a mask when cutting because there is always going to be dust in the air. I find often that you come in and blow your nose and see plenty of dust in the snot. It makes you marvel at the inguinity of the human body and its "filter" but you have to wonder what is getting past it also.:eek:

It'snot dusty

[gc3]

here's how I measure dust...

[myxpykalix]

It'snot dusty......it's dusty snot:rolleyes:

Gene when your pile of sawdust get's high enough for you to lose one of your children in it, it's time to clean!

[phil_o]

The information at the end of the article from Dwight A. Kauffman MD really caught my attention.

Subject: Wood Dust
Hi, Several years ago I attended an Occupational Medicine Continuing Education Conference at the University of Cincinnati. The main subject was Occupational Lung Disease. I asked one of the lung specialist if wood dust cause lung disease. He answered "No" with no hesitation or reservation. Some people do develop an allergy to wood which may aggravate their asthma or hay fever.

In a later email he writes:
Yes, you may quote me. I do not have a reference. And I’ll offer the following discourse for those interested:
Our airway, windpipe and bronchi, divide 17 or 18 times before reaching the terminal air pockets where oxygen oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange takes place. In about the first half of these bronchi, there is a constant production of mucus that is continually moving up to remove dust, bacteria, etc.

Most wood dust is trapped in this mucus and removed. Tobacco smoke goes all the way out to the air pockets and some comes back out. Some gets trapped.

Asbestos and silica are inorganic material that can be small enough to get in where the removal system doesn’t work. And being inorganic, the body cannot break them down.

The risk of lung disease from asbestos is greatly exaggerated. For 15 years I worked in a community that had had a factory that made asbestos brake and clutch linings. During those 15 years I did not see or know of anyone with the kind of lung cancer asbestos is supposed to cause.

I did my Internship in western Pennsylvania and saw lots of people with Black Lung disease.

Tobacco smoke damages the airways, thus chronic bronchitis. It also damages the air pockets, thus emphysema. These usually occur together and that is known as COPD.

In chronic bronchitis, the wall of the bronchi are damaged, so that when a person coughs or breaths hard, the airway collapses and traps air. In emphysema, the air exchange pockets that are normally like a bunch of grapes break down and look like an apple, loosing lots of surface area for oxygen exchange with the blood.

COPD is almost totally due to tobacco. Asthma is due to inflammation and causes swelling, increased mucus production and spasm, but does not cause the structural damage that tobacco smoke does.

When a company that makes air filters puts a picture of a chest X-ray in their ad, that is scare tactics.

Air filtration is primarily for comfort and esthetics, not health.

Ninety percent of chronic lung disease and cancer are preventable since they are caused by tobacco.

Asthma and allergies are treatable, and should be treated vigorously.

Dwight A. Kauffman MD


And in a later email:
The factors are particle size and organic vs. inorganic. In general, dust gets trapped in the mucus and removed. Non-smoking farmers who work in lots of dust have clean lungs.

There has been a lot of publicity about second hand smoke, but the smoke inhaled from fires, stoves, and other's cigarettes is minuscule compared to what the smoker gets.

Most smoke and a lot of vapors are so irritating that we do not stay in them long enough to be harmed. Carbon monoxide is an exception.

Another occupational problem was the artificial butter flavor used in popcorn. The manufacturer found problems in their workers and protected them but did not advise his customers, therefore a big law suit by those down stream.

A new concern I heard expressed by a lung doctor regards the "nano" particles which go right through cells. That's an unknown area.

[kurt_rose]

here's how I measure dust...

Time to open the door Gene and crank up the leaf blower!

[myxpykalix]

Another occupational problem was the artificial butter flavor used in popcorn
Who knew Popcorn was a killer?:rolleyes::eek:

[cowboy1296]

I work half of the time with black walnut. Before my dust collector I started gettting daily minor headaches. Most of the time i took nothing and on the severe days 1 aspirin. I did a little research and decided for health reasons to get a dust collector. The headaches have gone away and the clean up is so much better.

[rb99]

A doctor friend told me it's not the miner that gets black lung, it's the smoker who works at the mine that gets it.

[jTr]

Rick's experience w/Black walnut reminds me of why you do not give a horse rancher your walnut sawdust for livestock bedding.

A walnut tree's natural defenses cause it to secrete a substance that inhibits growth of other plants around it - very likely contributing to the fact that it is one of the most ancient species of tree on the planet. However, this substance regularly causes allergic reactions in animals, and not uncommon for them to die as a result of excessive swelling of their respiratory systems. I've also understood it should be avoided when using sawdust as a mulch for gardening.

Thankfully, the human animal's reaction is typically no worse than Rick's. Fortunately for myself, my reaction is one of enjoyment of the wonderful aroma, and hope I do not eventually become "sensitized", as long term exposure can develop into the same symptoms as his.

jeff

[cowboy1296]

I am in horse country and have heard that before about black walnut and horses. The dust collector is a must, if not for health reasons (which should be the most important) then for clean up. Being hard headed I was slow to learn.

[gene]

Rick
Its not the type of wood i use that gives me headaches its the customers:eek:

[cowboy1296]

Today I just had to look at the buddy and the dust collector. To busy plowing snow in my drive way and two neighbors.

But that was a funny response even though I am sure it is very true.

[shilala]

A good friend of mine had a cabinet shop for years. The dust collection was nonexistent. His lungs got so bad that he had to give up his shop and work with his wife at her greenhouse.
His doctor made the diagnosis and put the two things together.

Dust drives me nuts. It really works on my sinuses and gives me headaches. I also worked as a pipefitter for many, many years, had pneumonia twice, and the old lungs need taking care of. To my way of thinking, I only have one pair and they're worth taking care of.

I have excellent dust collection, 1 micron air filtration, and regularly blow the shop out with a husqvarna backpack leaf blower.
It all makes it a pleasure to be here and it'll protect my health for the next 40 years or so. I don't want to carry around an oxygen bottle because I was lazy or cut corners, ya know?
What everyone else does is their choice, but I will tell you that OSHA air standards are such that you'd want to die if you worked 8 hours a day in "safe" air.

I think the bottom line is that you should be comfortable, and your shop should always be clean and uncluttered. It keeps you safe and saves stupid injuries, reports and government standards aside.

[twelchPTM]

I worked at a shop and thereweretwo guys there, one who was constantly cleaning and one who refused to and they both complained about the other constantly! The argument was always the same, one would say "a clean shop is a productive shop" and the other would reply "but a dirty shop is a busy shop" this went on for about two years until the first guy finaly made the argument that one can be busy without being productive!

[Brian Harnett]

I use a Resp-o-rator, it goes in your mouth. I started using one 3 years ago when I chainsaw carve now it gets used all the time.

Great for anyone with a beard.

http://woodworker.com/resp-o-rator-whepa-filters-mssu-122-084.asp?gclid=CKjr07-17bUCFemiPAodxRUAqw

[steve_g]

"I use a Resp-o-rator, it goes in your mouth"

Neat... I've never seen that product before! I have an excellent dust collector but dislike the added noise. Generally I reserve the dust collection for MDF type products. I'll have to try the Resp-o-rator...

SG

[chiloquinruss]

The only time I don't use my DC is when I'm doing small parts. I have it routed all over the shop and have blast gates for each tool. The ports I love the best is I have two floor mounted floor sweeps and you turn on the DC and shove the crud into the sweep! Russ

http://chiloquinruss.jalbum.net/Hobby-Tronics-Shop/slides/mvc-896s.jpg

[Ernie Balch]

I am in a woodworking org that has a number of members that have health problems from breathing wood dust. There is lots of data available about the effects of different wood species.

Recently one member was sick for a month after being exposed to Peruvian walnut sanding dust. Another got sick working with Lacewood.

I think it is best to minimize wood dust exposure as some species have a reported sensitizing action much like epoxy resins are known for.