Ok well, it's a non-issue now because I found out Oleander will not thrive
in the area I live in - Upstate South Carolina. The cold Winter will
probably kill it. It's such a beautiful plant - I was wondering why I never
see them around here.

But thanks for all the information - very interesting.


On 4/30/03 7:15 AM, in article
, "Compostman"
wrote:

Many years ago, when I was living in Florida, I recall a big news story
about boy scouts (I think around Tampa) getting sick, and at least one
dying, from burning Oleander, maybe for hot dogs. This was probably back in
the early 1960s. Oleander is very common in that part of Florida (Central)
and I only recall stories of people getting sick when it is burned.
--
Compostman
Washington, DC
Zone 7
wrote in message
...
I didn't say that it wasn't toxic. It's toxicity is well established.
What I said was that the tale of "several people" out-of-staters, no
less, dying from roasting hot dogs, has the sound of urban legend.

The comment on it being anecdotal in your references seems to lend
support. The lack of any support from CDC, while not evidence per se,
also lends support.

Then again, maybe it's true.

gus

fOn Mon, 28 Apr 2003 18:32:57 -0700, Tom Jaszewski
wrote:

|
|Digital Libraries
|Texas A&M University
|
|
|http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/~sangita/wholeast.htm
|
|"All parts of this plant are extremely toxic--one leaf can be enough
|to kill an adult, and even water in which the flowers have been placed
|is toxic. The toxic principles are cardioactive glycosides similar to
|digitalis (Lampe 1985). The smoke from burning wood is also
|potentially toxic, and there are reports (possibly anecdotal) of
|children being poisoned from using the branches as hotdog roasting
|sticks."
|
|
|
|http://chemweb.calpoly.edu/chem/bail...rsF2000/Colin/
|Oleander
|
|By Colin Nordstrom
|

|
|Chem 377 Drugs and Poisons
|
|Dr. Bailey
|
|Fall 2000
|
|"This plant is extremely poisonous, as death has even occurred when a
|branch was used to roast a hot dog over a fire. Although this plant
|is highly toxic, the Oleander plant holds promise in the medical
|field. The compound Oleandrin has antitumor, bradycardic, cardiotonic,
|and diuretic properties."
|
|The only citing I can find at the CDC

|http://search.cdc.gov/search97cgi/s9...r+&SortField=s
core&Action=FilterSearch&Collection=cdcall1&Result Template=nsearchresult.hts
&filter=newsearch.hts
|
|
|Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for
|Environmental Health, CDC.
|Editorial Note: The findings in this report indicate that the cases of
|cardiotoxicity in
|New York City resulted from ingestion of a purported aphrodisiac that
|contained bufadienolides
|and bufotenine and was intended for topical use. Cardioactive
|steroids,
|including bufadienolides, have a narrow therapeutic index ( 2 ), and
|unintentional
|therapeutic intoxication is well documented. These steroids can
|adversely effect the
|myocardium ( 3 ), and the most life-threatening manifestations of
|toxicity include arrhythmias,
|ventricular ectopy, sinus bradycardia, atrial arrhythmias, and
|hyperkalemia
|( 2 ). Cardiac steriods are found in other nontraditional therapies
|such as Chan Su and
|teas made from oleander ( Nerium oleander) and foxglove ( Digitalis
|purpureau).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|On Tue, 29 Apr 2003 00:34:51 GMT, x wrote:
|
|Could be, but it sure sounds like urban legend.
|
|
|
|"Nature, left alone, is in perfect balance.
|Harmful insects and plant diseases are always present,
|but do not occur in nature to an extent which requires the use of
poisonous chemicals.
|The sensible approach to disease and insect control is to grow sturdy
crops in a healthy environment."
|
|Masanobu Fukuoka, One Straw Revolution--1978