Fred Woodall writes:

 

About a month ago I developed a terrible rash on inside of both

wrists. It closely resembled poison oak however the symptoms

were far worse. It was like having a strong varnish remover on

your skin you couldn't wipe off and it itched to the point of

driving a sane man over the edge.

Now this is where it gets interesting. Everyone at the shop had

the rash on the inside of both wrists at the same time. Pete went

to the dermatologist and was diagnosed with poison oak and

was prescribed an ointment to help with the discomfort. 

After three days the rash disappeared and all was well only to

have it reappear the following week. All four of us had it again.

Three times in the last month all of us got the rash. Well to make

a long story short we figured out what it was. There is a large

1800's oriental chest we have been working on for several

weeks. Every few days we would flip it over on its back or

move it to another work table. Every time we picked up the

piece our wrist were rubbing up against the bottom edge.

A friend analyzed the finish and concluded it was a heavy

application of tung oil on the very bottom of the piece. Many

years ago a dog had designated this piece of furniture as his own

fire hydrant and urinated on it many times.  Apparently

compounds in the tung oil and the dog's urine created a white

powder substance on the surface. Each time we picked up the

piece the white powder got on our wrist and the salt from our

sweat activated a reaction that caused the rash.

Anyone ever hear of such a thing happening?

Fred Woodall
Houston, Texas