[Community_garden] how NOT to deal with poison ivy

Thu Jan 3 17:33:57 EST 2008

Whoa! Time out!

The information in the post below is absolutely incorrect. You do NOT have 
hours to wipe off the urishol oil that causes the rash of poison ivy & 
oak--more like 20 minutes. My sources (as a medical writer) are the 
physicians who are called in to save people dying from the reaction (a week 
on IV steroids; sometimes in an induced coma) and who created Ivy-Block to 
protect firefighters. Urishol, these MDs note, causes the only emergency 
medicine situation in all of dermatology.

But some 10 to 20% of the population does NOT react; they can eat the stuff 
if that's their idea of a good time. Such people often think it hits 
everyone and so whatever they do would be safe for others. Not so. With a 
radio show that reaches a million people a week, I quickly learned to be 
Hippocratic; that is to first do no harm. You will note from my advice on 
this list that I am almost always an abject coward. I am very proud of this. 
I prefer "this way is really safe" to "I did this and got away with it".

If you're interested in my Poison Ivy removal advice, click here.
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=457
If the link doesn't come thru, go to "you bet your garden dot org" and click 
on "previous questions of the week"

A final note: Herbiceded plants may be dead, but they still have lots of 
urishol oil. Many a Round-uped plant has landed someone in the hospital.

"Lets be careful out there, people",
                                                                ---Mike McG
PS: And yes, if its the little book I'm thinking of (I recycled the copy she 
sent me) I am familiar with that book, which was not researched, not fact 
checked and yes, I did give the author a good dressing down when I told her 
why I did not want her for a guest on my show.
    (and her 'bee' book is even worse!)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <yarrow at sfo.com>
To: "Kuberek, Morgen" <morgen.kuberek at chpcolumbus.org>; 
<community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 3:07 PM
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] how to deal with poison ivy

> Here's a column I wrote a couple years ago about avoiding it if you
> have to work in areas that have poison oak or ivy. Even the bare
> twigs can cause a reaction, so it may be safer to work on it after it
> starts leafing out.
>
>
>
> Living with Poison Oak
> By Tanya Kucak
>
> One of California's most beautiful wildlife plants is also one of the
> most hated natives: poison oak.
>
> Few native plants can match the vibrant fall color, adaptability, and
> wildlife value of this shrub, groundcover, and thicket-former. It's
> one of the most effective barrier plants, but best used away from
> paths and well-used parts of the garden. Its signature "leaves of
> three" come in a delightful range of shapes.
>
> But if you haven't heeded the rest of the childhood rhyme -- "let it
> be" -- your skin may bear reminders of the encounter for days or
> weeks. And, of course, the bare branches, the white berries, and
> smoke from burning branches are toxic to humans as well.
>
> Knowing how to deal with poison oak is one of the most useful skills
> for a native gardener.
>
> I've encountered poison oak mostly in wilder gardens and along hiking
> trails. A few years ago, wearing gloves and a long-sleeve shirt, I
> got a mild case of poison oak on my upper arm. That's how I learned
> urushiol, the allergenic oil, can wick through sweaty clothing.
>
> I didn't get any poison oak on my wrists, which were exposed between
> gloves and sleeve, because I routinely swab them with rubbing alcohol
> after I finish working near poison oak. If you haven't used one of
> the products that claims to create a barrier, this is the best way to
> avoid a poison oak reaction: wipe the skin gently with an
> alcohol-drenched cloth at the end of a work day.
>
> That's because urushiol begins to bond with the skin within 5 to 10
> minutes after contact, but gently wiping the skin with a cloth
> drenched in rubbing alcohol can leach the urushiol out of the skin
> for up to 4 to 6 hours after contact, according to Susan Carol Hauser
> in a wonderful little book, _Nature's Revenge: The secrets of poison
> ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, and their remedies_.
>
> It's a delicate balancing act: the urushiol is soluble in alcohol,
> but alcohol is easily absorbed into the skin. So you have to make
> sure to use enough alcohol to wash away the dissolved urushiol while
> being careful not to rub it back into the skin.
>
> According to Hauser, copious amounts of water can also dilute the
> oil, but normal amounts of water, packaged alcohol wipes, or soap (if
> used without lots of water) can spread the oil. Avoid hot water,
> which opens the pores and makes the skin more vulnerable.
>
> Once a rash appears, the urushiol is gone. It has been chemically
> changed and therefore cannot be removed (or spread). The rash is your
> immune system's reaction. The oil can, however, remain on your
> clothes and shoes, so wash them to avoid spreading it.
>
> For severe cases, doctors prescribe corticosteroids, which interrupt
> the allergic process.
>
> In milder cases, gentle home remedies for itching include cool or
> tepid compresses of plain water or a paste of baking soda or oatmeal.
> My cousin Barbara, who battles poison ivy in her Virginia backyard,
> uses a paste of epsom salts (3 teaspoons per teaspoon of water) to
> relieve the itching for hours.
>
> copyright 2006 Tanya Kucak
>
>
> At 4:15 PM -0500 1/2/08, Kuberek, Morgen wrote:
> ....>We hope to have several solid volunteers by the spring time, but 
> before
>>I can get anyone out at the site, I have a major poison ivy problem to
>>manage.  We have one electrical pole with so much poison ivy on it that
>>you could mistake it for a tree ( I am calling the power company about
>>that one), but we also have poison ivy just generally throughout the
>>site and the neighboring yard.
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