On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 15:13:16 GMT, "George" scribed:


"J. Clarke" wrote in message
.. .
And allergy to wood dust does not automatically translate to allergy
to solid wood, and even less to food that was cut on that solid wood,
which is where all the hue and cry in the cutting board thread came
from.

Well, not necessarily. Byssinosis, a condition caused by exposure to
cellulose (wood dust) does not address the real villain, the chemicals in
the wood, which are the sensitizers. It is these, dissolved in what you cut
on the board which represent a danger to both bacterial and mammalian cells.
The larger critter has a number of resources available to fight back, the
bacterium must rely on random resistance and the next generation.

Wow. One of the most concise, matter of fact answer's I have ever seen
in a Usenet post!

In research it seems, Byssinosis is more common to cotton workers in
enclosed spaces, working with dust and fibres. It can be easily
applicable to a wood working space as the finer particles can be
easily inhaled, leading to many problems if the dust collection system
ain't working.

I take deference to your idea that a simple cutting board is a real
threat to anyone in the world if they give it a good wash off and a
bit of a scrub. Never met anyone getting sick from using a cutting
board, wood or plastic or butcher block.

Nice post though!

Phred