On Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:58:18 -0500, Wes Groleau wrote:

I reacted severely from what was in the air when I got close to it when
we first moved to Oregon. But a few years later, I could pick it
without gloves and have little or no reaction.

Hi Wes,

That is an interesting story - but I would caution anyone from actually
touching the stuff because of the classic YMMV difference in every
situation.

The funny thing about invisible toxins is that we really don't know
exactly where the stuff is, and where it isn't.

For example, look at my red sweatshirt & TIG welding gloves today:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/11917872.jpg

Notice I had no idea exactly WHERE the urushiol was, on Sunday, when I
last wore them, but today, two days later, the oil on the gloves was
sufficiently oxidized black to see it and the shirt oils were oxidized in
the washing machine.

The point is - you never know if you've been truly exposed or not, as
it's a statistical thing. So, a LOT of people conclude they were exposed
and didn't get the rash - when - in reality - they just weren't exposed
(or not exposed to enough to make black marks all over their clothes).

When I was in graduate school, I worked part time in a lab, and you'd be
amazed at the strangest places we found P32 with the geiger counter. You
can't see it - and when you find out where it got - you sit there and
ponder how the hell did it get there.

Now, maybe the goats milk matters - because the immune system DOES work
the way you said it does (i.e., when exposed at the right time in the
immune system development, the immune system learns what is body and what
is foreign) - so I am NOT saying you're wrong ... I'm just cautioning
anyone from actually touching the stuff with bare hands on purpose!



Urushiol is no different. You didn't get it from "the air". You touched
something that had a pinprick drop of oil on it. What you touched could
have been 'anything' (remember, the oil is known to remain infectious for
100 years ... in a laboratory drawer anyway).

The other thing to remember is that the oil is NOT on the outside of the
plant. Not outside the leaves, stem, berries, or root. But it's inside
all of them, so, you (and I) can pick it up (gingerly) and nothing bad
will happen.

But, when you do this ... now you've gotten that damn plant mad!