⚠︎🔥︎ DO NOT BURN 🔥︎⚠︎. Avoid all contact with ░ smoke.
- If contact with ░ smoke, seek ⚕︎ medical attention with all due speed.
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⚠︎ ⛽︎✂︎ DO NOT USE HEDGECLIPPERS ✂︎⛽︎ ⚠︎. Neither petrol/gasoline nor electric:
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⚠︎✋︎ DO NOT TOUCH ✋︎⚠︎.
To avoid skin rash and irritation urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, avoid contact with all parts of this plant with your 🖐 skin, 👕︎ clothing, 👟︎ shoes and 🐕︎ pets:
- If contact with 🖐 skin, quickly remove the oily-feeling urushiol with alcohol and a rag, or with 🫧💦︎ soap and water. I read that after 10 minutes, most of the agent has been absorbed into the skin — so if you notice contact, try to remove within this time.
- If contact with 👕︎ clothing or 👟︎ shoes, wash them. For fabric, use normal laundry (some sources say in hot water; this author finds warm water adequate). For leather and suede, we have no idea (this author finds re-contact from 👟︎ boots and 🧤 gloves minor).
- If contact with 🐕︎ pets, we have no idea.
- If contact with ✂︎ tools, I try to avoid touching the blade until it has gone through soil or non-Toxicodendron wood a few times.
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Identification, first aid and recommendations, from 🇺🇸 USA CDC NIOSH,
and its
"Protecting Yourself from Poisonous Plants," from 🇺🇸 USA CDC NIOSH. 
▶︎ Video How Poison Ivy Works, by 🇺🇸 USA CDC NIOSH.
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Prevention and treatment, from National Capital Poison Center.
Prevention and treatment, from MSU. (page 2)
👥︎ People differ greatly in their reaction to this plant — some react strongly, some are immune, and most are in the middle:
- On contact with the skin of susceptible individuals, a rash appears in to .
- Without treatment, it clears up in .
- With treatment, it clears up in .
- This author finds minor contact ignorable. But If the urge to itch is strong, an antihistamine spray or pen (perhaps with 2% diphenhydramine)
[disrecommended by this source]
, perhaps followed by (after letting previous soak in) a commercial pink lotion, offers adequate relief for — use and repeat as directed by the labels.
- One time, when this author had unseen contact with
⚠︎✋︎ Pacific poison oak Toxicodendron diversilobum ✋︎⚠︎
on the job, covering 100% of 💪︎ both arms, with patches on trunk caused by urushiol moved during a 🫧🚿︎ post-work shower, I did seek ⚕︎ medical attention.
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Also called hiedra venenosa ("poison ivy" in 🇪🇸 Spanish). Also called Rhus radicans.
Despite its common name, not ☠︎ poisonous.
Despite its scientific botanical name, not ☠︎ toxic, either. But a strong allergen to 👥︎ 70% of humans (85% after several exposures)
[1]
(see box immediately ↑ above).
Despite its common name, not an
☙ ivy genus Hedera,
either.
Instead, …
Part of
sumac genus Toxicodendron
in
cashew/sumac family Anacardiaceae.
Native to Asia, and 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 🇲🇽 North America (except most of the West).
🗺 Map by county (🇺🇸 USA-48)
(color key).
Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)
Toxicodendron hosts caterpillars of 5 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.
Many 🐦︎ birds eat and love 🍒︎ poison ivy berries, and can be an important part of their diet. Other 🐢︎🐇︎🐜︎🐛︎ animals eat the plant itself.
Thus, this author removes poison ivy only from footpaths, and back one big step. More than one big step into the forest or bush, I leave alone, unless causing trouble somehow.
Control Practices (page 3)
I have also heard of controlling this plant using ⚶🐐︎ prescribed browsing / goatscaping (although you cannot let kids pet the goats after this).
For 👥︎ humans, however, all parts of this plant are harmful, due to an oily-feeling group of chemicals called urushiol (see box ↑ above).
At the end of the growing season, leaves turn bright red before most other deciduous plants.