Whatever the source, you may want to consider using a barrier cream in the future. There are many brands and I can’t offer a comparison.
WEST Systems offers one to help prevent reactions to epoxy resins and hardeners. They say it is also good for petroleum products and solvents and is antibacterial. I’ve used it and not had problems, I’ve skipped it and not had problems.
The fact your gloves appeared to offer protection makes me think a cream could extend that protection beyond where gloves are practical. If you do have an allergy/sensitivity the cream won’t protect your airways! Be careful
WEST Systems offers one to help prevent reactions to epoxy resins and hardeners. They say it is also good for petroleum products and solvents and is antibacterial. I’ve used it and not had problems, I’ve skipped it and not had problems.
The fact your gloves appeared to offer protection makes me think a cream could extend that protection beyond where gloves are practical. If you do have an allergy/sensitivity the cream won’t protect your airways! Be careful
I'm not telling you to do this but my curiosity would get the best of me and I would do some tests to identify the allergen. I would take bandaids or tape and apply WD40 to one, and apply a different sawdust to different bandaids, and anything else you may have used to clean the saw. apply them to inside of forearm or another hairless spot and see which one reacts. Might even do some with a nitrile patch although if the gloves were the culprit that should have been accented on the back of your hand rather than your wrist.
It spread like poison ivy, so very doubtful it was from mites. Fleas and mosquitos leave welts on me, but my allergic reaction wasn't anything like bug bites, and it didn't get bad until a week later, when I put on the same pants I had been wearing. I think I had put my hands in my pants pockets, and whatever had been on my wrists got reapplied without me washing my wrists and forearms again, so it was way worse in week 2.
I'll definitely consider a barrier cream in the future. I also bought some should length PVC coated gloves. And I bought some SeeLeaf, which is a set of 5 small cloths that change color when they contact urushiol. I did a swab of the table saw top after it had been sitting after I'd cleaned it with WD-40 a month ago, but it was negative. That's disappointing, as I'd like to have gotten a positive for a known result.
I'll try putting on a spot of WD-40 and a swab from the table saw to my skin (not the same places that reacted initially). I have some TecNu this time, and know to wash well also.
Here's a timeline of events. I have pictures for most days also, but don't want to gross people out.
May 23: initial rash, within an hour after cleaning the table saw with WD-40
May 30: rash gets much worse after wearing the same jeans again, deep red under the skin and bumps
May 31: lots of pustules on wrists and forearm, grouped very close together
June 1: AM: pustules consolidate into large pustules on the bottom of right forearm, but appear more hide-like on the tops of both forearms
June 1: PM: the affected areas turn darker red under the pustules, where it wasn't already dark red
June 2: Rash has spread to the left leg, where I remember rubbing my hands a day or two before, and my back, where I remember having scratched with my left thumbnail a day or two prior. Top of wrists & forearms look like thick reddish hide. Bottom of right forearm looks lighter colored, but the large pustule has spread over more surface (of the existing reddish area). Rash is on left side of chin in spots.
June 5: Rash appears crusty, with some of the pustules getting hard, and the reddish areas looking and feeling harder. The larger pustule on left forearm has popped (probably while in the shower), and I tore a little over an inch my skin on my right forearm when I bumped something in the freezer. I looks terrible, but I feel better. My leg appears to be slightly better. Still seeing some new spots around existing areas, but not severe.
June 8: Swelling of the hide-like areas has gone down, but my arms feel like they're pooling blood when I lower them. It hurts with the feeling of pressure for about 20 seconds after I lower them. Thankfully I can work from home during all of this, as keyboard height doesn't feel bad. There are 3 large pustules that appear to be drying up slowly, and the rest of the red skin is much less swollen. Leg is definitely healing, but it looks like a map of some tropical islands. Chin is drying up, but I haven't shaved since Day 1 so I wouldn't spread the rash or cut myself. I itch from my facial hair alone.
June 12: The rash has turned into a crust. My forearms don't itch any longer, but the pressure is still felt when I lower my them, but less than on June 8. The crust has started cracking and peeling, leaving very pink skin underneath. I look worse than ever, but feel much better. The leg looks pretty close to the same as on June 8, but the rash area are darkening up, but not yet peeling. My chin is much lighter, but itchy, along with my leg.
June 13: My back has almost completely peeled. My forearms are about halfway peeled, and I feel much less pressure.
June 15: My arms are about 65% peeled, where it's very pink new skin. Legs no longer have rash bumps, but are darker splotches, and the itching has mostly subsided. My chin is almost normal; you wouldn't be able to tell I had a rash other than a slight discoloration.
June 21: Arms are fully peeled. Leg has peeled, but looks blotchy. These are the last pictures I took, below.
I was itchy for most of that time, but almost never scratched. It wasn't until I started using TecNu on my self and everything I'd touched, along with isopropyl alcohol (not on me) that the spreading stopped. I think that was around June 5.
Having just bought the saw, it would be hard to determine what the culprit was. Could have also been from chemicals as well as a plant-based toxin. Glad you are healing, but would be very careful cleaning any other parts of the saw, like around the motor, under the top, changing the blade, etc. May want to wear a respirator as well when doing any more cleaning. For all you know that saw could have been used to cut some old arsenic based treated lumber.
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I ended up buying a used SawStop CNS when I was quite literally irritated. Not sure if it was a good deal, but the wife was on board with the idea of having additional safety as well as a much cleaner table surface. I have yet to do anything with it, but am about to start cleaning it - with Naphtha first, then WD-40 with a Scotch-Brite pad on a sander. Hmm.. I'll be carefully cleaning the ROS before using it again as well.
I'll sell the Craftsman 113 with upgrades that are still in their packaging, with a warning to be careful about irritants.
I don't want to panic you but last year a close friend of mine developed a rash and thought it was from wood that he had been using that had some mold on it. It turned out the rash was a symptom of something much more serious. By all means get checked by a dermatologist and an allergist.
Was it indicative of an issue with skin, or some other seemingly unrelated health issue? My skin is pink now, where it was the most affected, but otherwise I look and feel normal. I'll contact a local dermatologist (versus telemedicine call) to have an in-person look-see.
I have to say that it sucks that I missed a month of garage time this spring. It's now in the upper 80s and low 90s. I don't think a mini-split would be looked upon with the same approval as the SawStop.
Not saying there is anything to worry about but in the case of my friend’s rash it was a symptom of a very rare form of cancer. Please get checked out.
Are you sure you did not do yard work before you cleaned that saw and came in contact with poison oak, sumac or whatever? The fact that the rash spread to your legs makes me wonder. I am not at all convinced that it is an allergic reaction to the solvents. Get thee to a damn doctor.
Absolutely certain. I live in a townhouse so I don't have to do yard work. I can't be 100% sure, but the marks on my legs is where I remember putting my hand, and where I'd rubbed through my jeans instead of scratching. The picture shows the affected areas after they've been healing (a lot). They were a lot worse.
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