This is an interesting read, showing the symptoms and toxic effects of certain woods.  Some of them are woods I've seen used on Alembics.  
 
http://www.dave-wilcox.com/Woodturning/toxics.aspx
 
Jazzyvee

Interesting read but I won't show it to a mate of mine who reads all the side-effects on medication he takes and then gets all the symptoms !!

Well if he has nice guitars you could show him the site and he may decide the guitars are too dangerous to use and give them all to you. :-)
 
jazzyvee

Hey, I'm just glad Superb Walnut isn't listed!!

As I work in Occupational Health we monitor a couple of companies that re cycle wood.
As you can see it is the dust that causes the most problems as it is a respiratory irritant.
Anybody working in the lumber processing trade where sawing, sanding occurs should always wear the necessary protective equipment and be monitored by serial questionnaires and spirometry(lung function testing). Obviously once the wood is sealed it is no problem.

Wenge   Eye, Ski, Respiratory System irritant. Giddiness, Drowsiness, visual problems, stomach cramps. Sensitiser. Splinters go septic.
 
Hmmm, guess more reason to play my Wenge Epic.  Not only giddiness, drowsiness and hallucinations, but I'll become a skier. Bonus.

Thank GOD for An African American named:  
 
Garrett Morgan who invited the Respirator/Gas Mask.
 
Peace and Love,
 
Hal-

Just think of how many lives Garrett Morgan saved, and Billions of dollars in health care expenses?
 
Peace and Love,
 
Hal-

Nice try Hal, however, garret didn't come on the scene with his gas mask until 1914, well after the first patents for gas masks were filed. In point of fact, respirators in various forms have been in use since the times of the ancients. The greeks used primitive cloths, the German explorer - Alexander von humbold introduced respirators for miners in 1799 and the forerunner of the 'modern' gas mask was patented by lewis haslett in 1849.
 
Morgan's heroism using his own gas mask  deserves a mention though and he's also supposedly the first African American to own an automobile.  
 
(wikepedia is our friend)
 
graeme

Graeme,
 
Given your nationality I'm surprised you don't make mention of John Stenhouse.  
 
John Stenhouse, a Scottish chemist, was investigating the power of charcoal, in its various forms, to capture and hold large volumes of gas. He put his science to work in building one of the first respirators able to remove toxic gases from the air, paving the way for activated charcoal to become the most widely used filter for respirators. British physicist John Tyndall took Stenhouse's mask, added a filter of cotton wool saturated with lime, glycerin, and charcoal, and invented a 'fireman's respirator,' a hood that filtered smoke and gas from air, in 1871. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respirator
 
My work involves handling hazardous materials (solvents, explosives, biohazards, etc.), so I wear a full face air purifying respirator at least once a week.

Kevin. I'm actually an Englishman living up here under false pretences. Just don't tell my neighbours :-)
 
I figured by the time I got to Lewis Haslett i'd made my point. It's interesting that garret Mrogan doesn't get metioned in your lin for respirators but he does in the related Gas mask wiki.
 
graeme

Graeme, yet another wikipedia flaw revealed.  
 
I'll not reveal the secrets regarding your origins if you won't hold mine against me.  My family emigrated to the US from Aberdeeneshire in Scottland. We know little except that my ancestor worked on the Bell Rock Lighthouse.  Some of my more distant cousins still have some of the original drawings for the structure.
 
http://www.bellrock.org.uk/

Interestingly (and going even further off topic) James taylor's family originate from the same area as yours kevin. Perhaps you are distantly related? Could be worth free tickets ;-)
 
Graeme

Garrett received the first US Patent for his gas mask invention in 1914.
 
My reference was American Patents, not Germany.
 
Also given the facts that Garrett's Parents were Black Slaves, Whites had a damn good head start...
 
Brother Garrett's still found it in his heart to survive/thrive in spite of... and built his invention to save people's lives anyway.  
 
Garrett Morgan is a Hero.
 
Peace and Love,
 
Hal-

There's no denying that Morgan was a hero and well deserves your praise. However, his was not the first US patent for a respirator....
 
The first US patent for an air purifying respirator was granted to Lewis P. Haslett in 1848 for his 'Haslett's Lung Protector,' which filtered dust from the air using one-way clapper valves and a filter made of moistened wool or a similar porous substance. Following Haslett, a long string of patents were issued for air purifying devices, including patents for the use of cotton fibers as a filtering medium, for charcoal and lime absorption of poisonous vapors, and for improvements on the eyepiece and eyepiece assembly. Hutson Hurd patented a cup-shaped mask in 1879 that became widespread in industrial use, and Hurd's H.S. Cover Company was still in business in the 1970s
 
However, in the interests of fair play I can find no mention of Haslett in the USPTO website doing a simple search.
 
Graeme