I just read about a guy who made the mistake of applying an oil-based poly on the inside of the cabinet.  Despite his efforts to air it out, the stench was still there.

Someone suggested removing the contents and putting in a tray of sliced onions.   After a few days, remove the onions and discard and air out to remove the onion smell and the poly smell would be gone.

Never heard of this before, but sounds interesting.  Will have to try it.  Anyone tried this?

I made some shaker boxes 30 some years ago and applied an oil finish.  Because the sides are only about 1/16" thick, the smell permeated the wood and I think I can still smell the odor on the inside.

 

The prevention would be to apply shellac or w/b finish to the inside instead of poly.  Or I've used some of the pre-finished plywood on some cabinets and that seemed to work fine, too.  You can get it finished one side or finished two sides.

Never tried the onion trick but have used charcoal and left the cabinet outside in sun for a week.  Generally I prefinish the insides and leave out in sun.  Seems to work okay. Not crazy about finishing inside of a cabinet but a drawer always gets finish of some kind.  

Thanks!

Gunny beat me to it.  I use charcoal.  The best charcoal is the digestive type found at a health food store.  It is also good for poltices and taking as aspirin to relieve bloating or bad reactions to food.  I have even used it for cuts.  Makes things heal nicely, however, you will get a small black line in your skin.  It does fade away over the years.  Charcoal will absorb all the bad stuff.  I do not know when it is released.  

Let us know how your experiment goes Keith.