Leather Allergies

[Tree Reaper]

If I'm sanding cedar wood without a mask I choke immediately, when I sand leather it doesn't affect me, at least while I'm sanding but you should always take precautions and wear a mask when doing any type of sanding to protect your lungs from the fine dust.

[Bob Blea]

Just my $.02,

I've seen other questions along these lines on the forum, and as the comments here from Johanna, Alex and others can show, for some people prolonged contact with the chemicals involved in tanning, dyeing or otherwise treating leather can bother some people. I don't know if there is evidence these chemicals are carcinogens, but it's possible. However, any sort of foreign substance that is inhaled enough (leather dust, chemicals, etc) can be very bad. I've known a couple of people that were life long bird owners that are now having respiratory problems. The dander the birds produce has been causing their problems (to the point they had to get rid of their birds) and one person now needs a double lung transplant. I think having a dust mask when sanding, a respirator when using chemical solvents, or just working outside where there is good ventilation is just a good precaution.

Bob

[gary]

I though I would add to the pool of knowledge so, for what it's worth...

Tannic acid was used from antiquity to the late 1940s for the treatment of burns. It was used to speed up the healing process - it seemed to help scar formation. Presumably, it was thought that if it could 'fix' leather it could 'fix' skin. Research in the 1940s by plastic surgeons including Sir Archibald MacIndoe found it to be carcinogenic as well as nephrotoxic (damaging to the kidneys) as absorbed tannic acid is excreted from the circulation via the kidneys. Sorry I can't quote the original research but my files got weeded and they've gone.

I worked on a burns unit for years and once, when clearing out an old storage cupboard, found a tube of tannic acid and was interested enough to do a bit of research. The tube it was in, by the way, was made of lead. A bit of a double whammy.

Tea contains tannic acid (albeit very weak) but is neutralised by the addition of milk.

I should know better but I don't wear a dust mask when sanding leather. And I drink tea.

An allergy may be to the leather itself (usually the proteins it contains) or the chemicals used to tan it - I don't know if there are fewer allergies with tawed or chrome leather than veg tan.

Gary

[Tree Reaper]

I've been taking Colloidal Silver and it has stopped the cough.