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Diatomaceous Earth and Shellfish Allergies?




Q. I am allergic to shrimp, crab legs and lobster. Recently I tried diatomaceous earth and got terrible uncontrollable itching. After stopping the DE, the itching mostly has stopped but is not completely gone yet after 10 days. I am hoping it just has to all get out of my system and then I will be itch-free again.

Patti Belleau
- Indianapolis, Indiana
August 16, 2024


A. Hi Patti.

I'm no epidemiologist but I suppose it is possible that there is a common factor in shellfish and diatomaceous earth that could make people allergic to both.

Luck & Regards,

ted_yosem
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha

finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Ted is available for instant help
or longer-term assistance.





Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition  🙂



Q. Hello, My name is Matthew. I am the assistant facilities director of an Athletic club. I have a "potential" member who extremely allergic to shrimp and other shellfish. She is concerned with the use of shrimp or any type of sea shells used as a chemical treatment or in the filtration process of our spas and pool. We use DE in our filtration process.

My question is: Is the use of "Diatomaceous Earth" in a pool's filtration process a health hazard/issue to any person(s) having allergies to Shrimp and other shellfish products?

Matthew V [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
athletic club - Seattle, Washington, United States
2004



32977-1

A. Hi Matthew.

Unfortunately your question remains unanswered after a long time, and we don't want the site to be questions without answers :-)

Diatomaceous earth is dried diatoms (algae) rather than shellfish. And it is an excellent filter aid -- it is used to filter other stuff out of the water, and it can't do that without staying filtered out of the water itself.

With nothing else to go on, I personally wouldn't expect it to be a problem, but I have no qualifications or experience with shellfish allergies and pool filters myself I'm afraid -- except that my son with shellfish allergy swims in pools without incident. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha

finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Ted is available for instant help
or longer-term assistance.



A. My Friend is highly allergic too and got his all over him today after treating his animals and now broke out in hives all over. I wouldn't use it.

A Somers
Stay at home mom - Abilene Texas
December 7, 2021


"Going Green using Diatomaceous Earth"
by Tui Rose
diatomacious_earth
on eBay
or Amazon
or AbeBooks
(affil link)

A. Hi A,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Still, I think there's a big difference between using diatomaceous earth as a filter aid in a pool filter versus getting it all over yourself.

Luck & Regards,

ted_yosem
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha

finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Ted is available for instant help
or longer-term assistance.





Q. What about Aluminium oxide ingested daily in the form of diatomaceous earth mixed into a glass of water? How toxic might that be?

I have a friend gone crazy, who is holistically trying to treat herself for some imagined "worm" by drinking this mixture twice a day! Aside from the obvious abrasive issue (!), what about toxicity to the kidneys and nervous system? I appreciate a response from anyone who knows the effects this might have on a human being.

Many thanks!

Sherry Kemp - Hawthorne, Florida
February 26, 2012


Diatomaceous Earth
diatomaceous_earth
on eBay
or Amazon

(affil link)

A. Hi, Sherry. Diatomaceous earth is not aluminum oxide; it's mostly silica, although it might contain a little aluminum oxide.

Apparently food-grade diatomaceous earth ⇨
is fairly widely used in the general fashion your friend is using it. I don't know the usual dose, and don't know whether it's good, bad, or indifferent health-wise, but apparently health food stores sell it.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha

finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Ted is available for instant help
or longer-term assistance.





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