allergic to Ebony 4x5?

This may sound odd, but I am curious if anyone has had an allergic reaction to their Ebony mahogany wood cameras? I read on their site that the mahogany versions are finished with japanese laquer, or urushi oil. Ironically, this oil is the same compound that causes a reaction with poison ivy and oak, and sumac. The urishi tree is in the same family as poison Ivy. I have read that the compounds can remain active after co-polymerization (curing.)

curiously enough this was all brought to my attention after traveling through central america a couple years ago. I gorged on mangos, and developed a hyper-sensitivity/allergy to them (skin and sap, not the actual fruit). Mangos are a part of that family of flora which contain urushi oil as well.

So anyone with moderate to severe reactions to poison ivy experience a problem with the urushi finished Ebony mahogany models?:confused:

weird huh...

Cameron,

Just to preface... I'm not a physician.

I would imagine that some people can be very sensitive to certain things in their environment. Or, they can certainly develop allergies to those same things over time.

What are your symptoms? Are you getting hives? Breathing issues? Eye problems?

It might be worthwhile visiting a dermatologist. I would think he or she would just do some simple skin tests to determine if you are, indeed, allergic to your camera. Be worth the small investment to find out for sure rather than basing any decision on speculations from a forum. :)

Good luck.

Cheers

I know I am allergic to their price... :)

Symptoms are thinning of the wallet...

Steve

I am mildly allergic to the RW45, and quite severely to the SV2024. My symptoms are tachycardia, pyrexia, ptyalism, hyperhidrosis, tumescence and vasocongestion. Sometimes all these symptoms and their withdrawal also leads to bouts of depression. I need help.

You forgot one Vijay - priapism.

This doesn't sound odd at all Cameron - I hear of allergy progression similar to this all the time, and I've has a similar experience: I moved to Seattle (allergy free) in '95 and by '99 had develop an allergy to cherry pollen. After my first spring dealing with this I had a cherry at a roadside stand and my tongue and lips became swollen; now the same happens with all pitted fruits - apricots, peaches, nectarines, etc. Things can get worse with subsequent exposure, so be careful!

What about alcoholism? See the bottom of the drink when I think about Ebony.

Eric - OMG - add amnesia to that list; I am sure the mere mention of Ebony made me forget priapism... :-) :-)

ha ;) came in today, doesn't seem to be a problem. Just curious as until now I had never heard of urushi laquer outside of medical briefs on allergens...