Burning Poison Oak???

[Tom_H]

If you burn the stuff and the neighbor has asthma and breathes this, he could go into anaphylactic shock and die. His family's lawyers will be /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif . You will be /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif .

Poison oak and poison ivy are same genus (Toxicodendron), but different species.

Here is an article in a university library regarding poison oak. It gives methods of managing (killing) it.

 

[rich_ncal]

I use Roundup in the spring on tall poison oak and on short poison oak I cannot cut with my bush hog. Other bush I cut with a chain saw, clippers or rotary cutter. I burn in the late fall after drying during the summer. The poison oak is mixed with other weeds and trees when I burn, so it is a small percentage of what I burn.

I am very sensitive to live poison oak, but the older dead dry poison oak does not seem to be a problem. I always have on leather gloves and long sleeve shirts when I handle the dead poison oak.

 

[bugstruck]

Rich, I use the same methods of handling and agree.

 

[DaMadman]

let it completely dry out, couple months of summer heat and go ahead and burn it. Between it drying for a while, your neighbor is 1/2 mile away and if you stay out of the smoke, best you can, you should be fine.

I have burned brush that had poison Ivy in it that had dried out and like you, it was a small percent in comparison with the larger pile of brush. There were no ill effect for anyone around

 

[SteveInMD]

I think the heat of the fire will drestroy the oils that cause people problems. I say burn it.

 

[Tom_H]

Deciding that something is the "truth" simply because it happens to be what you "think" is a dangerous thing. Religious authorities used to say that the earth was both flat and the center of the universe. People who didn't "think" the same were burned at the stake. Those in charge "thought" it was so, therefore it was deemed to be "infallible truth". It was actually this pope who just died, John Paul II, who released a papal bull in the 1990's saying that the previous doctrine was wrong. Until the 90's it was still part of their church "law" that the earth was undeniably flat and the center of the universe.

Do some research. You can read quite a few postings on TBN of people who got poison oak or ivy smoke on their skin and were hospitalized. Some got lung infections so bad they were on steroids and other medications to prevent respiratory failure. Look up articles on web sites of universities and hospitals and read how serious the stuff is.

The world is full of terrorist who are so extreme because they think that their own "thinking system" is so brilliant that whatever they "think" must be ultimately true.

Still, however, science is about not taking other people's word as true. Science is about coming up with a hypothesis (something you "think" is "true") and rigorously testing it to see whether it really is true or not. So, here is what I propose. If you are really confident that whatever you "think" is equal to "truth", will you be willing to go set afire a large patch of poison oak, walk all around in the smoke, let it get all over your skin and in your eyes, breathe in as much as you can, and then give to us a couple of days later a full report of the results?

If you are so confident that whatever you "think" is equal to "truth", then let's see if you have the courage to try this little test!

 

[ThistleKop]

My Goodness all this writing about poison oak/ivy!!!

TK

 

[Tom_H]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My Goodness all this writing about poison oak/ivy!!! Remember, "don't sweat the small stuff and everything is small stuff".)</font>

Absolutely! The oil from Toxicodendron when in smoke is far more dangerous than it is from mere physical contact. In fact, it is easily lethal.

SteveInMD seems to be in denial about this reality. If he doesn't "think" it's true, he's just going to ignore the evidence. He's like the guy who was looking for the gas leak with a lighted match.

Some people's truth is confined to whatever they "think". It appears that they and those who defend them do their thinking with, as you say, </font><font color="blue" class="small">( small stuff)</font>.

 

[mrcaptainbob]

A friend was just telling me a few weeks ago about his neighbor that once burned some poison ivy. Inhaled some of the smoke. Went to the hospital a few hours later. Was in the ground a few weeks later! I make sure all of what I burn is free of the vines. That stuff gets buried or goes to the landfill. I guess most of us get a reaction to the stuff, while some are allergic and still others are immune. I opt for the no-burn.

 

[droy]

Late post, but my $.02, being very allergic to poison oak, & ivy, while clearing 3 acres that was overgrown with both, I killed by spraying mix of Roundup & 2-4 D (4 oz/gal of each). When my sprayer wouldn't reach the top of poison oak vines, I simply cut the vine, painting the "ground side" fresh cut with pure 2-4 D, then returning later to re spray the shortened vine until dead. The other end of the vine eventually dried up, & went away. This took time, but as anyone who has developed the rash assoiated with this knows it is BAD stuff. Definitely do not burn the fresh plants !!! I too know someone who got it in their lungs; stayed in hospital almost 2 mos. & doctors said he was lucky.