Coming from someone who's not only been doing this for 30+ years, but also someone who has had a chunk of his right lung removed, and a biopsy on the left lung....... PROTECT YOURSELF AT ALL TIMES WHEN IN THE SHOP. NOBODY knows the cumulative effects of the type of work, or the cumulative health hazards that we, as knifemakers/Bladesmiths encounter/expose ourselves to. There have never been any studies done, because our numbers are a fairly small percentage of the population.
Early in my career I learned the hard way that I am severely allergic to Cocobolo. I can get the the dust all over my exterior, but if it gets inside, the reaction is just short of anaphylactic shock. I learned this when my wife came home and found me with my eyes swollen shut, bleeding from the nose, and unable to breath. After an ambulance ride, and 2 days in the hospital, they figured it out.
What I'm saying is that YOU, as an individual, may very well have had a reaction to some element or component in the steel.....or it may have been something totally different. If your body is telling you it doesn't like something like that, LISTEN TO IT and steer clear of the material.
It sounds macabre, but I've seen a number of Bladesmiths/Knifemakers in "the old days", who died young because they didn't protect themselves EVER. We're all "10 foot tall and bulletproof" when we're 25....... but add just a decade or so to that, and not taking care of yourself starts manifesting itself in ways you'd rather not experience.
