Jon I have not read all the replys because this got to be a tit for tat thing and it gets rather boring. But would like for you to sum things up in your words. What do you recommend for things like bowls, spoons and utensils, and cutting boards or any other item where foods come in contact with them. Maybe you see it to have different toppings if any on each. I use to make banana and fruit bowls going back 30 plus years ago. Sold quite a few. Back then Salad bowl finish was the finish that many turners and woodworkers were using so I did the same. One thing I always use to do because what I made was not meant to eat off or use to eat with , was to mention to people to place a towel or doily of some kind in the baskets before putting fruits or breads in them. I always had examples on displays as to what I suggested. My fruit baskets were always finished in dipped Danish oil and dried. No way any flaking was happening. I am guessing then the old addage that any finish is food safe after it has fully dried and cured is not in your vocabulary. Now if you tell me no finish on wood is safest then tell me the list of woods that you feel are the safest to eat and cut on. because so many people today are making cutting boards with all kinds of exotic woods as well as domestic woods. I would just like to see you summarize your findings and clarify where you stand being it seems you have done extensive studies on this topic. Thanks.
TL;DR Read the next post. *
Well....I have done some research. I don't know if I would necessarily call it extensive (there is a LOT of research out there, and sadly a lot of it is also behind paywalls...so I research what I can), however I and many members of my immediate and extended family have had numerous health issues spanning very long periods of time. My mother and I are both somewhat studious, and have been researching how to resolve our health issues ourselves (modern medicine has not only not been helpful, but a lot of what they do just exacerbates a lot of modern health ailments...that is a whole other discussion probably not suited to these forums; Look up "Bioenergetic Approach to Health" if you want to learn on your own...its amazing how our bodies work, what TRULY leads to health, and how good you can feel when you actually give your cells what they really need to produce enough cellular energy (ATP) to operate at optimum levels.)
We have researched a lot of areas, including microbiology and bioenergetics, and it is pretty amazing how disjoint the actual function of our bodies is, from a lot of health recommendations. Further, there is often a wild disconnect in the levels of certain compounds that will cause toxicity, and the "allowable levels" set by agencies like the EPA. I have read a fair amount of studies, although I don't know that I have most of them readily referenceable (I had a computer catastrophe in 2023, and lost a ton of my data when several drives went kaput on me. My focus over the last couple of years has been more on the microbiological and bioenergetic front, so most of the studies I've bookmarked or downloaded are more about that, than toxic compounds and toxicity levels.) One study that I was reading not too long ago (not specific to heavy metals, but its the kind of stuff I read):
Over the past 3 decades, in a series of studies on some of the most extensively studied toxic chemicals and pollutants, scientists have found that the amount of toxic chemical linked with the development of a disease or death—which is central to determining "safe" or "hazardous" levels—is...
journals.plos.org
There are a lot of studies on this subject of, what levels do we experience a toxic response. A lot of toxic substances exhibit a "decelerating" curve of response, meaning the initial responses at low doses can, relatively, be fairly extreme compared to no exposure at all. With increased exposure, the impact eventually plateaus, and as the body gets used to a toxin, it suffers...but we may not...experience it the same way. We get used to it. It is interesting, when you begin to purge your body of toxins...if you are then exposed again after some time, how significant the reaction can be. I've eliminated a lot of things from my diet, water, etc. If I am exposed to certain things now, where I was able to handle it in the past, but with some suffering, the reactions are much more extreme now, to significantly smaller quantities, and can be quite uncomfortable. The western world, Americans in particular, are often chronically exposed to so many toxins, we may not really be aware that some of the health issues we experience, are the result of our bodies reactions to those toxins. Only when we are cleansed of them for a time, do we start to realize the impact they have in our bodies upon exposure.
Further, many toxins are sensitizers, which after initial exposures, can result in wildly acute and intense responses after future exposures. This happened to me in 2020...I was unable to get a respirator due to the pandemic and the fact that respirators were reserved for front line responders. So I started turning in 2020, with nothing more than one of those cheap blue masks. I eventually picked up a ported N95 mask, which was hardly any better as the ports don't work well. My exposure to P2.5< particulate, as well as CA fumes, resulted in massive sensitization and SEVERE allergic and toxic reactions. In particular, the toxic reaction I have to CA fumes, is near-deadly now.
Why am I talking about this? Well, its kind of what lead me down the path. Supposedly only about 5% of the population experience issues with CA, and the issues are usually moderate or less. However after my own experiences, and hearing from just about everyone I know that they, too, have breathing problems when using CA, and hearing countless cases on forums like this or from youtube presenters by people who have fairly severe breathing issues when using CA, I started suspecting that the "established facts" about CA's toxicity were...well, just wrong. As I started researching, it seems that is often the case for MANY (most, all?) toxins...small amounts can cause issues, chronic exposure to small amounts can lead to long term health issues, and the amount of research being done on this is increasing, and seems to be indicating that our long standing assumptions about what levels of toxins are actually toxic, are often incorrect, sometimes by factors in the thousands. We have severe health epidemics today. The health of the western world, America in particular, is HORRIBLE. We rank very low on the world scale as far as health is concerned. Since the mid 90s, the amount of toxins in our food, water, and even the air, has grown geometrically...and our health ailments with it all. We are an unhealthy nation of people that is progressing towards even worse health, not the other way around, which is incredibly ironic given the astronomic level of medical technology we seem to have... (Our medicine, medical knowledge and mainstream health advice is wrong...but, again, discussion for...probably an entirely different place than this.)
I don't trust "old science" on a lot of "allowable levels" of toxic substances. Not anymore. Aside from my own experiences, there is a growing body of science on the subject of just what amount IS toxic, and when to these toxic reactions start causing problems. For grown adults, our exposures to many compounds have been high for some time, and we may not recognize ailments as being a result of toxic exposure (FWIW, toxic exposure is NOT the only potential cause, it is one of many). Our exposure is chronic, and thus "normal"... A lot of the time ,the concern is more for our children, where exposures to toxins may not only cause discomfort or pain, but can disrupt or arrest development of their growing bodies. Levels of toxins in children that cause problems are often MUCH smaller than in adults, and both are often FAR smaller than currently standardized "allowable levels" according to old science.
Studies like the one above are not uncommon anymore. There are raw scientific studies like that, as well as articles written by doctors who have put some focus on toxins and toxicity levels, if you care to do some research for yourselves. There has been some focus on municipal water supplies, and the amount and levels of toxins in them and allowed in them. There are some companies that will do broad scale analyses on your water and give you a report, comparing EPA allowed levels vs. levels identified to actually be toxic in recent science, along with the ratio of the two, if you want to see how many toxins, what level they become toxic, and what levels are allowed in your water...and sometimes its mind boggling what we allow and what we are exposed to on a daily basis (just look up how much arsenic you are exposed to, vs. what is ACTUALLY TOXIC...it'll annoy you at the very least.)
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I am not going to recommend any specific products. What I will say is, make sure you are checking what is in the products you use. Heavy metal salts are used as dryers in "drying oils" and, unlike B12 where Cobalt is bound up in the chemical structure of the vitamin, heavy metals in finishes would be unbound, and thus capable of reacting and causing problems. It generally does not take a lot of heavy metals to start causing problems. Something like Cobalt gets absorbed into our bones, and can cause problems there over time or much later. Heavy metal toxicity is much worse for the young, and can lead to developmental problems.
It is not just heavy metals that can be toxic. In the case of Salad Bowl Finish/Wood Bowl Finish, there are resinous compounds that form a urethane-like layer on the surface once the finish is cured. The thing that lead to this finish being renamed and reclassified from "food safe"" is that urethane film will crack over time, flake off into the food, and it has some level of toxicity. Its not like it will kill everyone who eats out of the bowl...but it could cause or contribute to health issues down the line, especially if the bowl is used regularly. We are also talking about a resin here...so, can it contribute to microplastics in the bloodstream? (This isn't from a study, its just something I think about...what are the sources of microplastics in our bodies? They have found them in our brains now, and they DO lead to problems there!)
Volatiles are another factor, however I would be least concerned bout them for the most part. The majority of volatiles evaporate during curing. The rate they evaporate slows beyond certain thresholds, so small amounts might remain in the finish, and with oil finishes, they technically continue curing "forever" (or over such long periods of time that it might as well be), so small amounts of volatile compounds may be released at least earlier in a bowl's service lifetime. Volatiles are also sometimes rather obscure...and often part of proprietary formulations, etc. I have read data sheets on finishes, then found and read data sheets on some of the VOCs in them, and a lot of the time, the data sheets on the VOCs are quite clear: VERY TOXIC, DO NOT LET YOURSELF BE EXPOSED. So, what do you do with that? At the very least, I try to know what I'm dealing with...then I can decide whether to use that substance on a bowl that people will eat out of. (Something else about resins...when they are heated, they can release some toxins... Say hot soup, or the heat of being tossed in a dishwasher, etc. How much toxin can be released from resins into your customers food that way?)
What do I think is food safe? I do think that pure oils are food safe. Pure purified walnut oil. Pure linseed oil. Pure tung oil. There are potential allergies to these, however I do recall reading in more than one place in years past that once these are well polymerized, the chances of them causing an allergic reaction drop dramatically. I think some people think linseed oil (flaxseed oil) does not cause allergic reactions, but not only does it, linseed allergies are apparently on the rise. Still, I think pure oils are the least TOXIC. Allergies are something to be aware of, and by being clear about what kind of finish you have used, people who have allergies can choose to buy or not based on that.
Beyond that, other finishes...all I would say is, know whats in them. I don't think anything with heavy metal salts for driers are going to be truly food safe. Maybe "ok" for adults, I would be most concerned about children and their exposures. Generally speaking, given that unbound (i.e. not a part of a vitamin) heavy metals will generally enter our bodies, and stay in our bodies, until properly chelated out, I don't think heavy metals can ever be considered food safe. I don't think I have ever seen any drying oil that has ever proclaimed to be food safe. I've never read any woodworking magazine article that ever said drying oils are food safe (usually, quite the contrary!) When it comes to volatiles, I think petroleum-derived substances are less safe than natural plant-derived substances. There are some reasons for that...probably too much to get into. Our bodies tend to react more poorly to petroleum-derived substances than plant-derived, but that is not to say that plant derived substances are harmless! Solvents in concentration can be quite problematic. Once they have evaporated, then I think a lot of finishes could be just fine and plenty food safe. To some degree, you need to make sure you are allowing enough time for those compounds to escape, before selling a piece.
Just...educate yourself, know whats in your finishes.
