In a word, no.

I take in unwanted animals here and I've seen a direct correlation between animals kept on softwood beddings (woodshavings, sawdust or wood based cat litter) and animals which have health problems.

The dust is one issue. "Dust" which comes off of something like woodshavings will basically be tiny little splinters of wood which are extremely irritating to the lungs and eyes.

The other issue though are the phenols, a chemical released by softwoods. There have been studies which show that these damage the liver. I believe a rabbit rescue found that rabbits kept on woodshavings had raised liver enzymes which then returned to normal when the bedding was changed.

A lot of people say they have used them for years and not had a problem. But liver disease can be largely symptomless or look a lot like old age. Unless you have had a post mortem carried out, you can't be sure what your animal died of and whether liver damaged caused by their bedding was a factor.

My view is that there are plenty of other safer beddings available and they're often cheaper than woodshavings. So why take the risk?