Recently my dog got a new bed, one that smells great and is full of cedar shavings. Lo and behold, what do you know, after my daughter played with her on the new bed, she (my daughter, not the dog) broke out in hives. It was the cedar. She was fine with some Benadryl and we’ll switch out the bed to a non cedar stuffed one, and chalk it up to a lesson learned. I did some research, though, and it’s interesting what I found.

Cedar, apparently, is one of the most allergy causing trees, pollens, and shavings around. One site pointed out that people use it to control moths, in other words, kill moths. If it kills moths, it obviously has some pretty lethal tendencies. The trees are causing quite the problems in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. It is a major source of allergies in Japan as well. There is even an active organization, People Against Cedars. This web site is “intended to provide information on how to manage allergic reaction to the mountain cedar (Ashe Juniper) plus offer management control for this invading tree. The goal is to provide you with useful information about the ashe juniper and its detriment to our environment.”

Exposure to cedar wood is documented as an occupational hazard among timber workers. The culprit is plicatic acid which can cause asthma and other respiratory complications. That can be the cause of allergies that people have to cedar shavings and cedar chests.
Animals have also been documented to have cedar allergeis. In my reading, I found that many animals like mice and gerbils who have cedar shavings in their cages develop rashes or hair loss due to the cedar shavings. When it’s switched to pine, the symptoms go away.

It always surprises when I see or hear of a “new” allergy. It shouldn’t, though. We hear of the major food allergies a lot and of ragweed and mold, but there are plenty of other culprits out there to be wary of. If you notice yourself or someone in your family dispalying allergy symptoms, it’s caused from something. Use your good detective skills and you find the answer.