[MAIPC] Poison ivy management

Wed Sep 4 08:44:18 PDT 2013

I’m not a big fan of using rubbing alcohol to clean up from poison ivy exposure, because it removes all naturally-occurring oils from your skin; thus, if you are re-exposed that same day (say you touch an unwashed tool, or you still have some on your clothes), your skin will have no protection at all.  I like John Ambler’s Dawn washing method, my only addition to that is make sure you don’t use hot water (you want to avoid opening the pores in your skin).

Good luck to all of us,

Deborah

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From: maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org [mailto:maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org] On Behalf Of Kathi Mestayer
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 7:35 PM
To: Carol
Cc: <dwbealer at yahoo.com>; <maipc at lists.maipc.org>
Subject: Re: [MAIPC] Poison ivy management

I was doing english ivy removal both times. The second time, I got it from leaning against a vine that was on a tree infested with english ivy, that I was doing an intervention on. Got it through a cotton tshirt; thought I might've had shingles!

From Kathi Mestayer's Cellphone

On Sep 3, 2013, at 7:16 PM, "Carol" <Carol2339 at verizon.net<mailto:Carol2339 at verizon.net>> wrote:
Benadryl gel is great!

We've found that you can be immune in one part of the country and then get poison ivy in another region, so don't get cocky.  We learned this through Americorps teams who can to work with us.
----- Original Message -----
From: Kathi Mestayer<mailto:kwren at widomaker.com>
To: David Merkey<mailto:dhmerkey at gmail.com>
Cc: dwbealer at yahoo.com<mailto:dwbealer at yahoo.com> ; maipc at lists.maipc.org<mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 6:36 PM
Subject: Re: [MAIPC] Poison ivy management

p.s. you can get poison ivy in the dead of winter.  I've done it two Januaries in a row.  I'm a slow learner.

Kathi Mestayer
KMA Consulting
105 Gilley Drive
Williamsburg, Va 23188
kwren at widomaker.com<mailto:kwren at widomaker.com>
757-229-6575
757-229-9396 (fax)

"There are 10 kinds of people -- people who understand binary and people who don't."
- Anon.

On Sep 3, 2013, at 5:22 PM, David Merkey wrote:

Mr. Bealer,
(1) Yes, the oils can remain active even if the plants are old and dead. Under NO circumstances should the plants (dried or alive) be burned, the oils can become airborne and breathed in with the smoke, causing the rash in the lungs.
(2) It depends on where they were discarded and whether or not they and the soil were moist. It is possible that they might re-root.
(3) Depending on the situation you are in, the amount of PI you have on site, and the time line you are working with, you might also consider fencing in the area and letting goats eat the PI. They are immune to the toxin. You could also get a dumpster service and place the PI directly in there so that workers would only have to handle it once. Also, again depending on how much you have; sleeve-length rubber gloves might be necessary to protect workers. Lastly, rubbing alcohol dissolves the oil so have plenty of that on hand. Workers will have 15 minutes from the time of contact to clean up with rubbing alcohol to help avoid the rash; all tools should be wiped down at the end of the day. Again, depending of the size of the vines you're working with; if you just have a few big ones, cutting them with hand tools and painting the stump with a brush kill will kill the root so you don't have to dig it up.
Good luck,
David Merkey

On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 5:05 PM, <meginnv at yahoo.com<mailto:meginnv at yahoo.com>> wrote:
Any thoughts for Mr. Bealer?

Begin forwarded message:
From: Dennis Bealer <dwbealer at yahoo.com<mailto:dwbealer at yahoo.com>>
Date: September 3, 2013, 3:35:10 PM EDT
To: "info at maipc.org<mailto:info at maipc.org>" <info at maipc.org<mailto:info at maipc.org>>
Subject: Poison ivy management
Reply-To: Dennis Bealer <dwbealer at yahoo.com<mailto:dwbealer at yahoo.com>>
After 2 hours of web research, it seems that the best way to dispose of poison ivy is to place it in plastic garbage bags and send to a landfill.  Articles discourage burning or composting.

(1)
If we uproot the plants and discard on the surface to dry out, would we endanger other workers who might contact the dead plants in subsequent weeks on the jobsite (since some web articles state that urushiol persists even in dead plants)?

(2)
If we uproot the plants and discard on the surface, do you suspect that the discarded plants would re-root, especially considering the approaching autumn leaf fall?

(3)
Do you agree the best disposal is plastic bags in the landfill?

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