To the best of my knowledge, the United States government does not place any restrictions on Zapote.
I realize that inherent in working with wood is the killing of a part of the natural world that may be slow to return and if I become deeply concerned about this fact, I will have to find a new hobby. I hope that such a time does not come to pass or at least not any time soon. In part because I am concerned about legally and responsibly obtained wood, I am reluctant to buy from sellers outside of well-established and known vendors. I am highly unlikely, for example, to purchase any wood from auction sites, such as Ebay, because of uncertain sourcing and documentation, as well as the potential, even likelihood, of material being misidentified in order to achieve a higher selling price.
However, due to the commercial scarcity of some woods, resorting to auction sites such as Ebay or Etsy may be the only way to obtain some desirable domestic, or in some cases exotic imported, species that are not routinely commercially harvested. The potential risks of buying in these marketplaces have to be balanced against the desire to work with a specific species of wood. That is inherently an individual decision.
I also realize that many, if not most, wood workers do not have endangered species lists memorized, therefore I think it worthwhile and important to do even a small amount of research before purchasing any lumber, domestic as well as imported, to be certain of the potential impact you are having, even in a small way, on threatened or endangered populations. This information is easy to come by and takes only minutes to locate through any Internet search engine, including those you can access on your phone as you are standing in the lumber yard or store. Unfortunately, you simply cannot count on a vendor to tell you a product they are selling is endangered.
Health Hazards:
In addition to the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, Zapote has been reported to cause respiratory, mostly nasal, irritation. As always, caution is essential until you are certain you are not sensitive to Zapote.
It is important to remember that although many people may, or may not, be sensitive to any given wood, the only experience that truly counts is your own, so use reported side effects as guidance but not as a substitute for cautious and safe practices.
Appropriate protective equipment is therefore always recommended when working with this, or any other, wood, exotic or domestic, unless you have worked with the species before and are certain you are not sensitive to it.
Complete information about health hazards associated with a wide variety of exotic hardwoods is available from The Wood Database. Additional information about how to best use a dust collection system and personal protective equipment, such as respirators, can also be found through this excellent and comprehensive resource.
Unfortunately, I experienced significant difficulties while working with Zapote; more on that later.
My Personal Experiences:
I would like readers to consider the following photo and pick the Zapote bowl. In the interests of fairness, I will disclose that both bowls are finished the same.
Zapote Comparison
Still can’t tell? Surprise! BOTH blanks are the same exact species of wood, commonly known as Zapote or Chico Zapote. As I noted in the very beginning, Zapote has a wide range of color possibilities including the pinkish cast on the left and the richer reds and pinks in a swirling pattern. I know they are the same based on the obvious shared high density and difficulty in turning such a hard and dense wood (the 6th hardest of the Central American woods in fact), but the ultimate information source was the vendor, West Penn Hardwoods, which identified both blanks as variations on the theme of Zapote. Until I worked with it I thought the pinkish blank was some mystery wood. In fact, NEITHER blank looks exactly, or even somewhat remotely, like the examples I see on-line. The appearances of some woods can be very misleading.