Poison ivy, are you allergic?

[pdqdl]

I decided to be adventurous today, and I collected a few Ginkgo fruit to see if I liked them. While doing the necessary research I discovered that they contain urushiol, the same chemical that causes poison ivy rashes!

What? I never heard of that before!

I doubted this little factoid, and then dug in deeper. It turns out that mango fruit (skins only) have been known to give people rashes, as well as a whole bunch of other plants.

Read all about it here: THE UBIQUITOUS URUSHIOLS

So... here is my question: Have any of you guys ever had a reaction from a ginkgo tree or any of these other plants?
(apart from poison ivy, oak, or sumac)

 

[ATH]

...I collected a few Ginkgo fruit to see if I liked them....

Well, the first question I have is what made you think that you might possibly like something that smells like vommited dog poop? :drool:

Now....to the meat of your post: Very interesting - did not know that it had urishols. I have not picked up Ginkgo fruit. Nobody has asked, but if they did, the price would have been high. With this information I think it just doubled. Sounds like the problem is in the fruit, so no need to worry about pruning a male tree.

 

[troythetreeman]

i dont get poison ivy

 

[pdqdl]

Yep! The fruit stinks, alright. It doesn't bother me, though, I have a long history with that kind of odor.

But the seeds are supposed to be quite tasty, and we have a lot of them in KC. I haven't cooked any yet, but they are supposed to be very good if prepared properly. Harvesting is a piece of cake, and the fruit squeezes right off rather easily. Apparently, they are a delicacy in Japanese cuisine.

BTW: the stinky element in the fruit is butyric acid, a harmless 4-carbon organic acid related to butane. The reason they smell like vomit or dog poop is that the digestive process breaks down bigger chemicals in our food into smaller pieces; that includes butyric acid.

I used to have about 250 ml of pure butyric acid in a glass jar. It was wonderful stuff for playing pranks on folks with. Just one little syringe of that stuff would make anyplace stink for weeks, and no one knew where the nasty odor came from.

 

[Iustinian]

I used to get it, but not anymore

One a fishing trip when I was like 8, I pissed on some apparently; got it so bad I had to get some kind of shot. After that, however, it seems like I never get it now. We cleared some crabapples covered with it on a property once and I took the small trees down and chipped them so the other guys wouldnt get it -- I was the only one that didn't! lol and they didnt touch or go near the stuff.

I've climbed several ginkos and never gotten it, and we did a clearing project this year with the fruits and seeds all over and none of us got it then either.

the thought has crossed my mind a few times though of planting a few on the farthest corner of my lot to get on one of my snoopy neighbors nerves though hahaha. reminds me of the Titan arum, Rotting corpse plant that blooms once every 27 years and smells like (*gasp*) a rotting corpse haha.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

Maybe the acid in the fruit affects the urushiol in some way, or their just isn't enough to be affective.

I never got it as a kid, but now I do...sort of. When I worked the ROW it was everywhere, week in, week out. I would get a rash sometimes, but it wasn't very visible and rarely bothered me. I like hot baths and showers and I would just scald the crap out of it. Felt good and would bust it down a notch to where it wouldn't bother me at all.

Other guys on the crew weren't as...er...uh...blessed?? They'd get it bad. So I was always diving in for more. Glad to be done with all that though...

 

[sgreanbeans]

Come to think of it, a while back we planted some ginkos, part of a large project. I have never had ivey,oak or sumac. Always figured I was immune, but on this job my whole crew broke out in some sort of nasty rash, makes me wonder now, if it was the ginkos. Bought that Technu stuff at Vermeer, didnt help at all. Start using Clotrimazole and it cleared up.

 

[ducaticorse]

I used to not get PI. Then one day I was cutting, and I went through a HUGE PI vine. The micronozed particles got onto my leg via a large whole in the leg of my pants. I would have rather been shot in the shoulder than endure the pain and suffering I did when that rash came up.

 

[Iustinian]

Come to think of it, a while back we planted some ginkos, part of a large project. I have never had ivey,oak or sumac. Always figured I was immune, but on this job my whole crew broke out in some sort of nasty rash, makes me wonder now, if it was the ginkos. Bought that Technu stuff at Vermeer, didnt help at all. Start using Clotrimazole and it cleared up.

Yea technu didn't work for the guys I've worked with either. One of the guys said your supposed to use it if you "suspect" that you've gotten into poison ivy, like wash the oil off your skin before it starts iritating you, but how often is that really going to happen? lol

 

[ducaticorse]

One of the guys said your supposed to use it if you "suspect" that you've gotten into poison ivy, like wash the oil off your skin before it starts iritating you, but how often is that really going to happen? lol

This is true

 

[BlackOakTreeServ]

Are we talking about Poison Ivy or Poison Hi-vy..... by Yale???...I dont got it, but would like to try it....LOL...even if it does make me itchy

 

[TimberJack_7]

I know this is a little off topic but I get PI every year. The method of getting over it the quickest that works for me is taking two benadryl before bedtime, and spraying my affected body parts down with ivy dry. Between the two of these things right before bed, I have found I do not itch myself in my sleep, and I manage to get a good night sleep by not waking up from itching. In the morning I spray ivy dry again. Doing this method has cut down my infection time from 2-3 weeks down to <1 week.

On another note, running the afflicted areas under scalding hot water feels oh so good. I refer to this moment of extreme relief as having a "skin-gasm" and it is about the only silver lining to the PI situation.

 

[ATH]

You are making this too easy to have fun with...(no insult intended...just laughing at the statements)

...I have a long history with that kind of odor.

That one is too easy, so I'm just going to let the statement linger on its own - just too rich to be ignored

... Apparently, they are a delicacy in Japanese cuisine.

Roasted Ginkgo Nuts Served over Broiled Feline?

BTW: the stinky element in the fruit is butyric acid......I used to have about 250 ml of pure butyric acid in a glass jar. It was wonderful stuff for playing pranks on folks with. Just one little syringe of that stuff would make anyplace stink for weeks, and no one knew where the nasty odor came from.

Interesting! Did you extract that from the fruit, or get it another way?

 

[ATH]

Regarding poison ivy itself:
*I used to get it really bad. I took a few differenent homeopathic products for poison ivy. I taked to a pharmacist (and pharmacy professor) friend about that...he was unfamiliar with anything specific, but made some general assumptions. First, he said a homeopathic treatment would not impact duration or severity of an existing rash. However, he did say it is not unrealistic to expect that a homeopathic product could reduce future rashes. I do know that it is not uncommon for severity of rashes to change over time (some are like me, others used to not get it and now get it bad), so I am not saying the homeopathic product did or did not work...but I do not get it much at all any longer. Folks who get it bad will usually try anything - thismay be worth a try.

*When I do get a rash, I try to get bleach on it. It burns like heck, but really dries out the skin. Dry skin does not support PI rash well. that is why hot water can sometimes help speed recovery (it also dries the skin) in addition to feeling good for the moment.

*As has been implied above: Tecnu is NOT intended to treat the rash...it is intended to wash urishol off before your skin has been exposed long enough to react. Other oil disolving solvents can do the same, but many of those should not be applied to your skin. once your skin has started to react, the oils are long gone so an oil-removing product will do you no good. Tecnu works well when used in this way - it just takes persistence in cleaning.

 

[Iustinian]

I know this is a little off topic but I get PI every year. The method of getting over it the quickest that works for me is taking two benadryl before bedtime, and spraying my affected body parts down with ivy dry. Between the two of these things right before bed, I have found I do not itch myself in my sleep, and I manage to get a good night sleep by not waking up from itching. In the morning I spray ivy dry again. Doing this method has cut down my infection time from 2-3 weeks down to <1 week.

On another note, running the afflicted areas under scalding hot water feels oh so good. I refer to this moment of extreme relief as having a "skin-gasm" and it is about the only silver lining to the PI situation.

lmfao

 

[pdqdl]

You are making this too easy to have fun with...(no insult intended...just laughing at the statements)

That one is too easy, so I'm just going to let the statement linger on its own - just too rich to be ignored

Actually, I had intended it to be a bit funny, despite it's truth. Salient points on that topic:
1. (as pointed out elsewhere) I used to have a nice big jug of the concentrated (pure!) Butyric acid.
2. I worked at an animal hospital for 5 1/2 years.
3. I worked at a horse stable for one year, and kept horses for about 15
4. I used to do quite a few sewer line repairs.


Roasted Ginkgo Nuts Served over Broiled Feline?


Interesting! Did you extract that from the fruit, or get it another way?

I seem to recall that I snagged some from the high school chemistry lab.


Regarding the Gingko nuts: they shuck out of the fruit rather easily. Soak them in water, then send it all down the garbage disposal. I am not at all allergic to urushiol, so I worked bare handed with no problems.

The nuts that I roasted were not particularly delectable; it could take practice to learn how to roast them. One other person on-line stated that they tried a bunch of different cooking methods, rejecting all of them except pan-frying.