An early spring has contributed to an especially lush growth of poison ivy
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An early spring has contributed to an especially lush growth of poison ivy this year, and a University of Missouri agricultural engineer recommends a few practical steps to ward off the worst effects of the three-leafed weed.
“One of the most important things is to be able to identify it,” associate professor Bill Casady said. “Poison ivy takes on so many different looks. It’s a wicked, nasty plant, and it doesn’t follow all the rules.”
It can appear as a shrub, a vine or a freestanding plant, he said. The leaves of many – but not all –poison ivy plants are red and shiny in both the spring and the fall. Some plants have notched leaves, and some do not.
Poison ivy always has a three-leaf configuration, of course, and Casady said a few other rules also generally hold true. “In most areas of Missouri, the leaves tend to take on a mitten shape, with a lobe on one side,” he said. “If you see that, you can be pretty sure it’s poison ivy.” Conversely, “if you see a three-leafed plant with a saw-tooth edge, it’s not poison ivy. Poison ivy leaves never have a serrated edge.”
And a poison ivy plant without leaves can be as dangerous as a lush, bushy shrub. “It doesn’t lose its potency, not even in winter,” Casady said. “You can get a massive amount of urushiol – the ‘poison’ in poison ivy — just by breaking a stem.”
You can safely stroll through fields and woods if you take a few precautions. “Never wear shorts,” is Casady’s first rule. The next is: “Tie your shoes well before you go out. Boots or shoes without laces are not a bad idea” because tying shoelaces is almost sure to transmit urushiol to the hands, and from there to other parts of the body. He finds a stick about a meter long with a forked end, to clear brush away, before he sets out for a hike. He puts a clean handkerchief or paper towel in his pocket.
Once you’re out of the woods and back on your doorstep, “Take off your shoes and leave them outside,” Casady said. “That oil can stay on them for a year.” Use the hanky to open the door, and “don’t touch anything.”
Because urushiol begins to bind with the skin within 15 minutes, “the key is to wash quickly,” he said. Several commercially available soaps and compounds claim to neutralize the toxic oil, and isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol can break down urushiol.
“Wash your hands with rubbing alcohol then use soap and water — but not too hot,” he said. “Hot water opens up the pores and provides a place for the oil to enter.” He recommended using a soap designed to break down oils, like dish soap or hand cleaner – to wash exposed areas. “If you don’t have anything else, wash your hands and arms thoroughly in cold water.”
Bathe after the initial cleanup, paying particular attention to the area between the knees and the shoe tops. “From the knees down is the part to worry about,” Casady said. “The oil can go right through your clothes.”
Thorough washing that removes urushiol from the skin will also remove the skin’s natural oils and leave it even more susceptible to re-exposure through contaminated clothing, he said.
These simple steps “might sound like a lot of work,” Casady said, “but it’s a lot more work to have a bad case of poison ivy.”