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Also keep in mind that the irritant chemical is highly aromatic. Just getting close enough to the plant to get the fumes on you is enough to cause the rash.
That point was dramatically illustrated to us on a field trip for our Ecology class. As we assembled after disembarking from the bus, the lab assistant, wearing rubber gloves, collected a sprig of Poison Ivy, and as the prof issued a warning to us, the instructor was displaying it to us, holding it, for some unknown reason, righting front of his face, like he was hiding behind it. Although it didn't actually touch his skin, he began to break out right before our eyes. He had a miserable day after that.
Also keep in mind that the irritant chemical is highly aromatic. Just getting close enough to the plant to get the fumes on you is enough to cause the rash.
That point was dramatically illustrated to us on a field trip for our Ecology class. As we assembled after disembarking from the bus, the lab assistant, wearing rubber gloves, collected a sprig of Poison Ivy, and as the prof issued a warning to us, the instructor was displaying it to us, holding it, for some unknown reason, righting front of his face, like he was hiding behind it. Although it didn't actually touch his skin, he began to break out right before our eyes. He had a miserable day after that.
When some people burn brush or from forest or brush fires, people that are sensitive to the poison oak, can break out a very long way away from the fire. Just a whiff of the smoke is all it takes.
This also gets into any individual's personal tolerances for this noxious weed. And then we are the owners of bodies that do change with age and exposure. What we are not sensitive or allergic to today; we could be tomorrow.
I never got poison oak that I can recall. But poison ivy loved me when I was a youngster. When I got it in the fourth or fifth grade I was blistered on my forearms and then they bled (probably I scratched), the rash spread like crazy and finally the worst portions were bandaged because they had turned to large areas of runny sores.
I missed weeks of school and long division, but I never got poison ivy again in my life. I also never got long division either.
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