Chip box illness

[herschel]

Has this ever happened to you??


I had a full load of chips in my truck, and I was expecting my dump and hydraulics to work properly........but


NO!!


I really needed my truck emptied for another job I was headed to, so I grabbed a shovel and started unloading.

Just a few more facts.

It was friggin' hot outside, so you know it was very warm inside that box. And of course, all that shovelling chips does is stir up alot up dust, spores and organic stuff. Oh, and don't forget lack of quality breathable air. (Yes, I came outside for breaks.)

So then the next day, I felt like someone had taken a bat to my ribs. This was no surprise, really. I can understand why.


But now the question.

The heat + the moisture of leaves and chips + enclosed metal box = ????

Wouldn't you agree that it is already breaking down?
Is this a safe place for anyone?
Should we all carry respirators in our trucks?
Why do trucks break down when they are full????
(Truck is fixed, all is good with the world)

 

[geofore]

breakdown

Some folks are allergic to some stuff. Poison ivy comes to mind, should we all carry steroids shots for that too? If you begin to ask for everything you will need a second truck to haul it in and an MD to go with you. You don't carry a resperator in the truck? If you have asthma I'd tell you to get out of this line of work for your health. Stuck in a hot box, shovling chips is not fun. My saw only quits in the top of trees. I get a new one. A truck might pinch the budget a bit.

 

[herschel]

No allergies here. There was simply some nasty stuff fermenting in that box.

Those chips were a few days in there and then I filled it up. That may have something to do with it.

I still feel crappy 3 days later.

Should I see a Dr., if it was a airbourne mold type of thing?

 

[geofore]

chip mold

Yep, if you don't feel better three days later. There is a black mold here that gets in the willow chips that will keep me sneezing for days. Best not to let those chips ferment long. Once had to go back to remove chips a coustomer ask to have them put in his yard. Turned out he was allergic to the mold in the chips after they got rained on. I found out I was too, sneezed for a week after I cleaned them up. Didn't bother me the first day but oh what a mess the next day,eyes watering and sneezing.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I don't have asthma but there have been several times when I stirred up wood chips and had the same asthma like reaction.

I suspect it's the mold spores. Symptoms last about three or four days for me. I found relief with an inhaler, borrowed from a friend.

You might try carrying some paper dust filters in your glove box for those times you need to sholvel chips. It's even nice to have them when you're doing chipping and the dust is coming at you.

 

[Kevin]

We have what is called The Algoma Health Unit here that would check your trailer for free.
You must have something similar there.
Any trace should still be present unless you washed the box.

 

[Keener]

The reaction you refer to I have heard called "bacterial pnuemonia".
I have experienced it firsthand with chills so bad I could not warm up in a car parked in the sun with the windows rolled up.
Breathing was severely restricted, fever over 100 with nausea as well.
At least 3 times over the last 2 years I have experienced this to a greater or lesser degree depending on hlw long the chips fermented and what type of chips and how stupid I was that day in shovelling them.
Here on Vancouver Island we now have treeborne bacteria that are making people sick who have visited our parks, Cryptococcus Gatti I think they call it, again severe flu like symptoms.
I am working on a cure which involves both Stihl and Husky equipment.

 

[geofore]

Is that anything like what they used to call farmers lung from living in the pine forrest or to near the pine forrest?

 

[Keener]

It could be the same or similiar type infection passed from trees to humans.
I do know that normally the type that is showing up here now is more common in tropical forests.
I think the chip box reaction is caused by a real stew of bacteria/fungi that grow due to the heat and moisture.
I also think that the finer the chips the worse it is as the reaction happens more quickly due to less air spaces and higher heat within the chips.

 

[Jumper]

Dust

A lot of nasty stuff can lodge in your lungs from the air. My cousin's husband recently lost his best friend from bacterial pneumonia that he picked up while in a forest of all places. Mouse droppings are also particularily nasty when inhaled as dust. Dunno what the answer is but wearing a mask at times sometimes is not at all practical let alone comfortable.