There are many threads started and then you never hear the end result, this is one I was following too and was wondering what the final outcome was?

I have not been reading the forum but spotted my username in a thread-tracking email as a result of Jelly's post.

The out-gassing no longer bothers me. I started by ventilating the shop well. I had had my home AC totally replaced and ended up with the blower unit. I placed this in one door and opened the others. It moved a lot of air. Then I would shut the shop up and turn the heat way up (as birdman and maybe others suggested), thinking this would encourage the out gassing. After a few hours I'd draw fresh air through the shop again. I don't know how long it took as I did not take notes but it was longer than 3 months. The problem got better and better. Now I can stay in the shop all day.

The shop is a blessing to my retirement. It is 800 square feet divided into 3 parts. My part is 17x20. I have my bikes hanging on the long wall. I have 3 six foot work benches and have plenty of room to work on the bikes, dabble in electronics, program microcontrollers, a little wood work (although I usually move the machines outside through the garage door because of the sawdust). I'll be setting up a small metal lathe and milling machine I already have (may have to buy another work bench). The point being that the shop is now the center of most of my activities. I can even watch TV from the web or movies from DVD while I work/play. I spend a lot of time out there; although I'm writing this from the computer room in the house where I also play my computer games, e.g. Battlefield 2, and do most of my internet work (I have a server in Texas where I host a number of sites - I use to design web sites as a midnight engineer but now just for fun).

I am really enjoying my retirement and seem to be in good health. Part of that is due to riding recumbent bikes which I have been doing for 3 summers. I wish I had know about them before then. A few words now so that you will know about them sooner than I did in my path to retirement. You can ride a recumbent a long ways without any pain or discomfort. They are great for people with bad legs, knees, back, etc. I could not ride a lean-over-the-handlebar bike, not very far; but on recumbents I rode over 4,000 miles last year. My longest ride in one day was for 122 miles. It took 10 hours, including stops. Then I got off the bike and took my wife out to dinner. I was tired, as you would be with a 10 hour car ride; actually not as seat-tired since I had a range of motion. I typically ride 32 miles 2 or 3 times a week and then 60 miles on one of the weekend days. In addition I may take short rides with the family. I am 67 years old, I am not slow on the bikes but not real fast either. I'm getting faster, but it is not about speed. (I have averaged over 18 mph for a distance of 15 miles). We have a great place to ride, i.e. the 40 mile long "Long Leaf Trace". We travel to ride too; last year we had 3 riding vacations. These are social events with other riders. If you think you might be interested take a look at my web site: http://bentrider.info

Thanks for the great response, projo, I'm glad that things worked out for you. Your story proves my theory that there can be "life after youth" Also, maybe this will help others with their concerns about the potential toxicity of OSB. However, you did go through quite a hassle, I guess that we'll never know whether or not it was your extreme sensitivity, or a bad batch of OSB, that caused you all of the grief in the first place.

Once before, at work, they did some work somewhere and the back of my neck itched for a couple of months. My desk was right under an air vent. No one else had a reaction (that I knew of). They were also re-roofing at the time and I had noticed the hot tar fumes passing near the fresh air intake for the building. Maybe I am extra-sensitivity in a very specialized way as I don't seem to have any other particular reactions to the environment.

Glad to hear about your resolution, projo. I'm trying to decide what to use in my own workshop. I don't like OSB for a number of reasons. Even though your problem resolved, your experience with OSB doesn't make me any more excited to use it.

The house I am building is made entirely of steel - steel SIP walls and roof, steel interior framing, steel joists. So introducing bare plywood is an idea that I don't really like. So I'm considering using a thin layer of plywood with drywall on top as a compromise. Maybe that would cut down on the fire risk?