Cedar 101 or Cedar and Asthma

[Guest guest]

And I always thought cedar was the best way to store all your winter

clothes, SO what is the best way to store wool sweaters and coats?

In humans, occupational exposure to cedar leads to asthma in 50% of more of

wood, paper and pulp mill workers (Malo 1994, Rosenberg 1989). One might

expect that longer exposure to cedar or pine dust would result in worse or more

persistent respiratory symptoms, but that is not clear from various studies

[Guest guest]

The primary<> irritant in cedar is plicatic

acid<http://www.trifl.org/plicatic.html> and western red cedar contains the

highest concentrations although eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and

Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) also contain it. Exposure to plicatic acid

can cause or exacerbate asthma, rhinitis or conjunctivitis in humans and in

animals, and the damage can be progressive. Asthmatics who are continuously

exposed to cedar, such as in a lumber mill, experience deterioration in their

asthma over time. In pine<> (family Pinaceae), the primary irritant identified

is abietic acid<http://www.trifl.org/abietic.html>, sometimes called sylvic

acid. Pine products also include pine resin, also known as rosin or colophony,

which is known to pool players and mountain climbers. Pine resin is also used in

adhesives, paints and varnishes, inks and in sizing for paper, paperboard and

fabrics (Sadhra 1994). Abietic acid itself elicits relatively weak allergic

responses, however, a number of compounds formed by air oxidation of abietic

acid are potent contact allergens (Hausen 1989, Karlberg 1988).

Plicatic acid has been shown to cause an array of pathological changes

consistent with inflammatory and allergic reactions. However, no one knows the

mechanism by which plicatic acid induces these changes, which include increased

concentrations of eosinophils, immunoglobulin E (IgE), T-cells, histamine and

leukotrienes--substances known to increase inflammation in conditions such as

multiple organ failure following surgery and acute respiratory distress syndrome

(Frew 1995, Chan-Yeung 1994, Salari 1994). The overall increase in IgE

concentrations found in humans with red- cedar asthma (Frew 1995, Paggiaro 1987)

indicates an overall sensitization of the immune system to a foreign substance.

Similar increases in IgE levels also accompany allergic reactions and parasitic

infections. Allergists and immunologists refer to this immediate immune response

as a type-I hypersensitivity reaction. Humans can also exhibit a delayed

reaction to red cedar or plicatic acid exposure--also known as a type-IV

hypersensitivity reaction, which is the type of response seen in tuberculin skin

tests in humans. Following exposure to red cedar or plicatic acid, a person with

occupational asthma may have either an immediate, or a delayed reaction, or both

(Malo 1989). Long-term exposure to red cedar or pine in humans can lead to a

decrease in forced expiratory volume, or FEV, a measure of lung capacity and

ability to breathe freely (Shamssain 1992, Cote 1990, Malo 1989). Plicatic and

abietic acids can both cause destruction and desquamation, or sloughing, of

alveolar, tracheal and bronchial epithelial cells (Ayars 1989).

Among the known causes of occupational asthma, red cedar has a significant

impact compared with most other occupational exposures. One study compared four

groups of employees who worked at jobs that exposed them to respiratory

irritants: cedar sawmill, paper pulpmill, grain elevator and aluminum smelter

workers. The sawmill workers had the highest overall prevalence of asthma

compared with a control group of persons without any occupational respiratory

exposure (Siracusa 1995). Studies of workers exposed to pine dust also show that

such work is associated with significantly more respiratory symptoms and a

greater risk of airflow obstruction (Shamssain 1992), and the results of a

German study indicate that workers exposed to pine dust had more than a

three-fold increased risk of glottal cancer (relative risk = 3.18, 95%

confidence interval: 1.1-9.0) (Maier 1992).

In humans, occupational exposure to cedar leads to asthma in 50% of more of

wood, paper and pulp mill workers (Malo 1994, Rosenberg 1989). One might expect

that longer exposure to cedar or pine dust would result in worse or more

persistent respiratory symptoms, but that is not clear from various studies.

Some researchers report just that among timber workers with occupational asthma

who remain exposed to wood dust (Rosenberg 1989). In contrast, a large study of

British Columbia cedar sawmill workers found that physician diagnoses of asthma

or respiratory symptoms were not associated with work duration or the amount of

dust to which the workers were exposed (Vedal 1986, vol. 41).

Can asthma caused by exposure to wood products be reversed? In the studies of

occupational asthma among sawmill workers, the condition vanishes in 50% or

fewer cases when exposure stops. The remaining individuals experience

intermittent attacks or continued chronic airway restriction that can persist

for years or indefinitely (Choubrac 1991, Rosenberg 1989, Newman-, 1988).

In the British Columbia sawmill workers, researchers reported the health status

of 17 patients with occupational asthma due to red cedar who had been removed

from exposure for at least one year. Seven patients became asymptomatic but 10

(59%) required continued treatment for asthma (Chan-Yeung 1988). In another

group of 136 sawmill workers with cedar-induced asthma who had left the

industry, only 55 (40%) recovered completely and 81 (60%) had continued asthma

attacks of varying severity (Chan-Yeung 1987). In one experimental study,

bronchial hypersensitivity lasting two weeks was observed after an individual

with red-cedar asthma received a single exposure to plicatic acid (Cartier 1986,

vol. 78).

[Guest guest]

I have everything in space bags. Suck the air out nothing can live in

them, no odor tht I detect form the plastic, and I am VERY sensitive to

plastics.

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 ssr3351@... wrote:

> Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:28:25 EDT

> From: ssr3351@...

> Reply-

>

> Subject: Re: [] Cedar 101 or Cedar and Asthma

>

> And I always thought cedar was the best way to store all your winter

> clothes, SO what is the best way to store wool sweaters and coats?

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have never had any luck with them. Do they keep air out for extended periods

of time?

Bobbie

>

> > Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:28:25 EDT

> > From: ssr3351@a...

> > Reply-

> >

> > Subject: Re: [] Cedar 101 or Cedar and Asthma

> >

> > And I always thought cedar was the best way to store all your winter

> > clothes, SO what is the best way to store wool sweaters and coats?

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I have all my comforters, pillows, sweaters etc in them. IF I do not

overload them the air stays out. But with some of the comforters it was a

hell of a squeeze and I do on occassion have to re-suck oit the air. For

the most part, it's the safest way I have found to keep my clothes etc.,

safe.

On Sat, 22 Oct 2005, Bobbie Delory wrote:

> Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 16:26:07 -0000

> From: Bobbie Delory <realmoldygal@...>

> Reply-

>

> Subject: [] Re: Cedar 101 or Cedar and Asthma

>

> I have never had any luck with them. Do they keep air out for extended

periods of time?

>

> Bobbie

>

>>

>>> Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 20:28:25 EDT

>>> From: ssr3351@a...

>>> Reply-

>>>

>>> Subject: Re: [] Cedar 101 or Cedar and Asthma

>>>

>>> And I always thought cedar was the best way to store all your winter

>>> clothes, SO what is the best way to store wool sweaters and coats?

>>>

>>>

>>

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>

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