Dollieh Sanctuary

Is it possible for an individual to be or later become allergic to dolls made of polyurethane synthetic resin? If this is possible, how common is it? What would be a safe and inexpensive way to find out whether or not an individual is allergic to polyurethane synthetic resin?

What would you do, if one day you woke up and discovered that overnight you had become allergic to all of your resin dolls?

These questions have been nagging at me for the past several months and it feels good to finally get up the courage to ask them.

It is possible to become sensitized to resins, however it is usually only if you are working extensively with sanding and casting resin, not just playing with the dolls. I tend to have a lot of allergies of that nature and I have never had a problem with resin and the dolls. I have been around resin much longer than BJDs and still haven't developed any adverse reaction. If you take caution when sanding such as wearing a mask you should be fine. If you do develop any reaction, I suggest eliminating dust, and other possible candidates on the surface and strings and inside the doll, clothes and wig before determining that it is the resin itself.

This is actually a very good question, I am glad you asked it. I know that there are far more knowledgeable people here, and I hope they comment also.

The only thing I can find about polyurethanes and allergies is that it's a good solution for people with many allergies to the things it can replace (such as latex), rather then being something people are allergic to. The only health concerns I can find is for vapor/dust inhalation during casting and sanding/filing/grinding. This doesn't mean it's not an issue or a possibility, just seems remote from the little information I was able to dig up in a rather quick search. Supposedly people can become sensitive/allergic to one of the materials used when producing polyurethane, but the site gave the impression that these people could still handle cured polyurethanes, just no longer work in their production. (I should really start keeping the links of these sites so I can properly reference them.)


But on to the far more serious concern of becoming allergic to my dolls. For a minor allergy, I would luckily only have to change a few things I do. I don't normally cuddle with the dolls, but I do enjoy carrying them around at conventions and such, so I'd have to wear the protective gloves more often, as suddenly I need to protect myself from the doll as much as i need to protect the doll from me. Unless, of course, I was fatally allergic... though I think then I'd be more concerned with running into the polyurethane everywhere else in life then the known risk of the dolls, and likely continue to flirt with death by playing with the dolls anyway as normal life could bring about a fatal reaction just by accidentally borrowing the wrong cellphone from a friend, or walking barefoot on any number of sealed hardwood floors. Or, worst in my particular case, there would be the risk of drinking water from any water system that uses plastic pipes, as most (all? O.o;) of my dolls are actually polyvinyl rather then polyurethane. ^.^; (I also own and produce many polyurethane scale figures for 28mm tabletop gaming, so I can relate to polyurethane specific risks as well.)

But all in all, I can't see myself abandoning dollies over something as silly as them trying to kill me. ^.~

Alright, so I am not a doctor, but from what I know and have experienced with allergies: Yep, definitely possible. Especially if there is sanding and resin dust involved if you are asthmatic (not quite an allergy, but definitely an adverse reaction). Resin is a type of plastic, which you can be allergic to. Basically, in theory you could be allergic to anything with a protein of some sort. I don't know much about resin or plastics as a whole (because getting into the really detailed parts kind of seems to require a healthy understanding of chemistry, which I do not have) but I think there are a lot of different mixes and grades and types of resin that it could be difficult to be sure whether you were allergic or not to all of them. Some might be better or worse, and everyone would react somehow if it was a toxic type of resin like recasts might be made of. This is something that I wonder about a lot, as I have a lot of allergies, some of them to certain plastic poly- whatevers, which resin falls into. Especially since once when I was young I was in a shop with all sorts of older collectable resin dolls in it...and I literally could not breathe, at all. I think there might have been some resin dust (or a lot of resin dust) in the air and the dolls might have been old enough to maybe not have had completely non-toxic resin, but because of that I am still super paranoid about buying a resin doll and then discovering I can't breathe around the doll. I think it may just be some sort of resin I don't do well with, since I have one art doll which has a faux fur body and a resin face which, despite my extreme worries when it came in the mail, I am (thankfully!!) completely fine with that particular resin, and I handle that doll loads.

So, it's a tricky subject and I am definitely not qualified or knowledgeable enough to answer all of your questions without doubt, but to answer your titular question: yes, it is possible to be allergic to resin. There are loads of other messy variables which I don't know about though. Also, keep in mind that just because it is possible...doesn't mean it will happen. Thankfully, or else I would have been killed by a chair leg impaling me a long time ago.

EDIT: I'm allergic to polyester (so can't wear any clothes with it or I get a very unpleasant rash) just to let you know that, though unusual, there are people who are allergic to different poly plastics. I just have a very ...special auto-immune system. -.- *cough*crazyparanoid*cough*

Anyways--dolly cuddling time!

If you are talking about dolls prior to 2000, then there would probably not have been any resin dolls. Figurines perhaps, although unlikely. Vintage (60s etc.) dolls are vinyl, composition and ABS plastic. You are much more likely to have been reacting to household dust and mold on the dolls or their boxes. If you were in a shop specializing in strung jointed dolls, it could also have been china dolls. In which case porcelain dust would be a concern. Resin is a completely different manufacturing process. Unless you were in a Ball-jointed doll factory such as Volks or Customhouse in Asia, which is certainly possible, and if you were I am officially jealous. Then I could see it. The problem with inhaling resin dust is that it is not absorbed by your body and just sits in your lungs. You are very likely to have complications from it similar to miners have with coal dust. Vinyl manufacturing is done at extremely high temperature and has other risks. There is a lot of confusion in the hobby about the various types of dolls and what exactly is a ball-jointed doll. By courtesy, Hazel is one. However she is not a strung resin bjd. She is actually a vinyl/ABS hybrid with internal skeleton. The Polyurethane resin dolls are a slightly different composition of plastic and are usually strung with elastic cords. The chemicals are similar, however they contain different amounts of hardeners.

Thank you so much to everyone that has replied to my post! *hugs* All of your replies have given me quite a bit of information to consider and sort through. I do not plan on modding any dolls that I have currently or any future dolls; however, the idea that a new resin doll can potentially still have resin dust on him/her upon arrival is certainly one to be wary of in case I am allergic. I have allergies to pollen, dust, black mold, smoke, pet dander, and more than likely other things that I'm not currently aware of and thus why I felt the need to ask the questions regarding whether or not it is possible for someone to have allergies to resin dolls.

Currently, my doll collection is made of ABS plastic or vinyl and I have no allergy problems with those materials, but lately I have been waffling on the idea of eventually owning a resin doll, but wanted to touch on all of my bases before making a final decision.

If anyone has any further information regarding this topic for me or even for any future resin doll collectors that might have similar questions, then please share as I could not find much about it online anywhere. Thank you so much!

One thing to realize is that dolls aren't the only resin products in the world. More than likely you come into contact with plastic resins everyday. While there are different formulas, resin is made into everything from soda bottles to paint to plastic grocery bags to carpeting.

It's literally everywhere, just,sadly, not in doll form most of the time.

Can you be allergic to it? Sure. You can be allergic to basically anything on Earth, so it's certainly possible. I mean, there are even people who are allergic to water. With water making the list of possible allergies, it's hard to discount anything else. But, more than likely it probably won't be an issue for most people.

I'm only allergic to not enough resin. XD

zirconmermaid wrote:If you are talking about dolls prior to 2000, then there would probably not have been any resin dolls. Figurines perhaps, although unlikely. Vintage (60s etc.) dolls are vinyl, composition and ABS plastic. You are much more likely to have been reacting to household dust and mold on the dolls or their boxes. If you were in a shop specializing in strung jointed dolls, it could also have been china dolls. In which case porcelain dust would be a concern. Resin is a completely different manufacturing process. Unless you were in a Ball-jointed doll factory such as Volks or Customhouse in Asia, which is certainly possible, and if you were I am officially jealous. Then I could see it. The problem with inhaling resin dust is that it is not absorbed by your body and just sits in your lungs. You are very likely to have complications from it similar to miners have with coal dust. Vinyl manufacturing is done at extremely high temperature and has other risks. There is a lot of confusion in the hobby about the various types of dolls and what exactly is a ball-jointed doll. By courtesy, Hazel is one. However she is not a strung resin bjd. She is actually a vinyl/ABS hybrid with internal skeleton. The Polyurethane resin dolls are a slightly different composition of plastic and are usually strung with elastic cords. The chemicals are similar, however they contain different amounts of hardeners.

A-ha! That's what I thought! I was pretty sure that resin was a fairly new invention, in which case, porcelain is the problem. I have never been outside of Canada so I definitely was not in a Volks factory. And the store/museum/whatever dollieh place it was was pretty immaculately kept so I doubt there was any more dust than in typical indoors, and doubt even more so that there was mold. It definitely didn't smell like mold at all.
There was a little doll from Ireland that a family friend got me a few years back and I just found her again over Christmas. Sure enough, the not being able to breathe feeling came back as soon as I was close to her. I was thinking she was porcelain but I wasn't sure, so in which case: porcelain is what I need to be careful of as I seem to react oddly to it. Very oddly. Wonder how the science behind that works...?

Wait. Wait. This means I can get resin dolls without any trouble. Resin is safe territory!! (Just so long as absolutely no sanding of any kind is involved, resin, wood or otherwise.) SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! *runs off madly to look at websites, four year old girl banshee shrieking all the way* Resin resin resin woo! I want this dollieh and this dollieh and that dollieh and all the dolliehs!!1!!!!11!! *joyful spazz-ing*

Most porcelain dolls are NOT full-body porcelain, the way BJDs are full-body resin. Porcelain dolls are generally porcelain only in the lower legs, lower arms, and head and neck. The rest of the body is usually something else. Most common is cloth body with a wire armature and some form of stuffing. Some antique dolls are leather-bodied, also with a wire armature and some form of stuffing.

The "some form of stuffing" is the MOST likely site for your allergies, since the stuffing can be almost anything, from sawdust to kapok to raw cotton to wool to rags. All of those substances can be happy homes to molds and bugs, plenty of them contain dander or pollen, and all of them create dust.