# getting sick from a sycamore



## outdoorsman0490

I had to climb a smaller sycamore last friday, about 18" diameter and 50' tall, in someone's backyard. Limbed it out, popped the top and dropped the trunk; the h.o. wanted to save money and had me leave everything where I had it land. This was the first time I worked with a live sycamore, and I noticed after a little while in my nose running and I was sneezing. My Dad was my ground guy on this job, and when I got back down to the ground, he said his nose was running and he was sneezing as well. I didn't think much of it until I met up with the h.o. a couple days later to get paid. He said when he started to clean up the mess, he got so sick he actually threw up. Also, he said the tenant he had in that house moved out recently because they felt sick all the time and thought it was mold in the house; now he is thinking it was just the tree.

Anyone else ever run into this when working on a sycamore?? (it could have been a london plane tree)


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## mattfr12

outdoorsman0490 said:


> I had to climb a smaller sycamore last friday, about 18" diameter and 50' tall, in someone's backyard. Limbed it out, popped the top and dropped the trunk; the h.o. wanted to save money and had me leave everything where I had it land. This was the first time I worked with a live sycamore, and I noticed after a little while in my nose running and I was sneezing. My Dad was my ground guy on this job, and when I got back down to the ground, he said his nose was running and he was sneezing as well. I didn't think much of it until I met up with the h.o. a couple days later to get paid. He said when he started to clean up the mess, he got so sick he actually threw up. Also, he said the tenant he had in that house moved out recently because they felt sick all the time and thought it was mold in the house; now he is thinking it was just the tree.
> 
> Anyone else ever run into this when working on a sycamore?? (it could have been a london plane tree)



the dust is an irritant, can cause itchiness redness of the skin. it is also bad to breath when we chip sycamore i usually wear a respirator #### will give you the brown lung. while cutting i usually don't wear one but sometimes hold my breath when its blowing in my direction. london plain is gonna do about the same thing. small fibers to get into the skin nose and throat to cause irritation.


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## kr5258

I was working on a sewer line project a few years back. We had cut through the roots of a sycamore and my throat became very irritated and the boogers started flowing. Never experienced anything like that before. That tree was paying us back!


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## NCTREE

Sycamortis it's common to this area:hmm3grin2orange:


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## treeman75

They make me sneeze also and have a nasty smell. I was bidding a job a while back and talking to the home owner and I could smell one. It was behind her house in the back yard.


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## Zale

I try to prune them when they are not in leaf. The irritant is caused by the underside of the leaf and is described as "tomentose". Nasty stuff.


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## beastmaster

They make me gag and have trouble breathing. I just work through it, but I see lots of guys ware masks, especially when chipping it. I though that was how it got its name,"sick and more".


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## ropensaddle

I charge a toxic waste charge to remove them


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## bootboy

I wear a mask when working in my own London plain. I've known for a long time that I'm allergic to that family of trees. Some people react differently to allergens and vomiting is actually not uncommon. It sounds like it was the tree and not mold that was making the previous residents sick.
These beautiful trees come with a price for som people.


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## flushcut

There is a reason why they are called sick-u-more.


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## Youngbuck20

Hey, I think that's why they are called sick a more haha!


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## treeclimber101

They sure are pretty to look at , the old black guy at the wood dump call them army trees , cause they got camo bark , chipping them is like chipping Owens Corning insulation , and when they get the seed pods they burst apart and really make ya sick .:msp_razz: edit : ol colored guy.


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## ropensaddle

treeclimber101 said:


> They sure are pretty to look at , the old black guy at the wood dump call them army trees , cause they got camo bark , chipping them is like chipping Owens Corning insulation , and when they get the seed pods they burst apart and really make ya sick .:msp_razz: edit : ol colored guy.



Hahah that reminds me of that late great black comedian Bernie mac. The show was something like , I don't understand why you people call us colored, when you get sick u turn green, when your embarrassed you turn red lol. That guy cracked me up I miss his comedy even if it had profanity he was funny.


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## Sunrise Guy

ropensaddle said:


> Hahah that reminds me of that late great black comedian Bernie mac. The show was something like , I don't understand why you people call us colored, when you get sick u turn green, when your embarrassed you turn red lol. That guy cracked me up I miss his comedy even if it had profanity he was funny.



He/you left out: ---and when you die, you turn purple. I know that from experience, unfortunately. Not a pretty sight.


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## hunthawkdog

treeclimber101 said:


> They sure are pretty to look at , the old black guy at the wood dump call them army trees , cause they got camo bark , chipping them is like chipping Owens Corning insulation , and when they get the seed pods they burst apart and really make ya sick .:msp_razz: edit : ol colored guy.



My 3 yr old calls em camo bark


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## J.Walker

Sure burns good tho!


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## lone wolf




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