I am well aware of how hazardous giant hogweed is, before anybody
posts trivial responses to this.

A friend of mine made himself a very nice musical instrument
(a harmonic whistle resembling a Hungarian tilinko) from part
of a giant hogweed stem. His had been detoxified - he lives
on the shore of the Forth, and the stem was washed up after
sloshing around in the sea, maybe for weeks (the Forth has
strong and chaotic tides). Cutting, polishing, painting and
playing it produced no adverse reactions, so the toxin had
all gone after its saline soak and subsequent drying.

I would like to try the same, using an intact stem to make a
longer, deeper instrument. There's plenty of giant hogweed
growing around here, but I don't have a private ocean to dunk
it in. Any ideas on how to detoxify the stuff at home? I was
thinking of simply standing the stems in a bucket of saline or
alcohol, but maybe there's some specific chemical agent that
will deactivate furanocoumarin?

And to repeat, yes I know I'm talking about handling something
as hazardous as a chemical warfare agent. I'm thinking Tyvek
overalls, rubber gloves and a full-face mask when harvesting it
(using a small handsaw which will be immediately disposed of
along with the clothing).

[ crossposted - pity there isn't a Usenet toxicology
newsgroup, that would have been more appropriate ]

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

Sorry - I do know how to detox Giant Hogweed.

This is clearly not the reply you want, but this plant is an invasive and
dangerous alien and should be eliminated. Please report it to your local
council and/or wildlife trust. Try http://www.swt.org.uk/

Peter

"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
...
I am well aware of how hazardous giant hogweed is, before anybody
posts trivial responses to this.

A friend of mine made himself a very nice musical instrument
(a harmonic whistle resembling a Hungarian tilinko) from part
of a giant hogweed stem. His had been detoxified - he lives
on the shore of the Forth, and the stem was washed up after
sloshing around in the sea, maybe for weeks (the Forth has
strong and chaotic tides). Cutting, polishing, painting and
playing it produced no adverse reactions, so the toxin had
all gone after its saline soak and subsequent drying.

I would like to try the same, using an intact stem to make a
longer, deeper instrument. There's plenty of giant hogweed
growing around here, but I don't have a private ocean to dunk
it in. Any ideas on how to detoxify the stuff at home? I was
thinking of simply standing the stems in a bucket of saline or
alcohol, but maybe there's some specific chemical agent that
will deactivate furanocoumarin?

And to repeat, yes I know I'm talking about handling something
as hazardous as a chemical warfare agent. I'm thinking Tyvek
overalls, rubber gloves and a full-face mask when harvesting it
(using a small handsaw which will be immediately disposed of
along with the clothing).

[ crossposted - pity there isn't a Usenet toxicology
newsgroup, that would have been more appropriate ]

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk
==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660
4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554
975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739
557

Sorry - I do know how to detox Giant Hogweed.

This is clearly not the reply you want, but this plant is an invasive
and dangerous alien and should be eliminated. Please report it to
your local council and/or wildlife trust. Try http://www.swt.org.uk/

Given the extent of the cuts Midlothian Council have made in their
environment budget, they are about as likely to attack it as start
their own space programme.

People like me with a use for it are a better bet for getting it
under control right now. I've only seen about 20 plants in the
parts of the county I pass through regularly and I can make a fair
dent in that total single-handed.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557

People like me with a use for it are a better bet for getting it
under control right now. I've only seen about 20 plants in the
parts of the county I pass through regularly and I can make a fair
dent in that total single-handed.

Great - go for it!

On Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:07:22 +0100, Jack Campin - bogus
address wrote:

Sorry - I do know how to detox Giant Hogweed.

This is clearly not the reply you want, but this plant is an invasive
and dangerous alien and should be eliminated. Please report it to
your local council and/or wildlife trust. Try http://www.swt.org.uk/

Given the extent of the cuts Midlothian Council have made in their
environment budget, they are about as likely to attack it as start
their own space programme.

People like me with a use for it are a better bet for getting it
under control right now. I've only seen about 20 plants in the
parts of the county I pass through regularly and I can make a fair
dent in that total single-handed.

Hi Jack,

Some thoughts and documents that may help you out.

Consider using the stalks from similar plants like Cow
Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) or Japanese knotweed/Bamboo
(Polygonum cuspidatum).

I found this abstract concerning toxin concentrations that
maybe helpful:

"Contact Dermatitis. 1983 Jul;9(4):281-4.

Seasonal variations in the content of phototoxic compounds
in giant hogweed.

Knudsen EA.

The Candida inhibition method of Daniels was used for
monthly determinations of the relative amounts of phototoxic
substances in giant hogweed from April to September.
Significant seasonal variations were found in the highest
content of active constituents in April and May, with a
decrease in the following months. Except in May (where it
was highest for the root), the highest content of phototoxic
substances was found in the leaves. It was lower in the root
and lowest in the stem and stalk.

PMID: 6352168 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"

I would like to have read that just to satisfy my own
curiosity but I couldn't find a free version of the article.
I gathered from the abstract that the stalk has a lower
concentration of the poisoning substance (Furanocoumarins).

This pdf article has a lot of solid information concerning
identification, description and other facts. It mentions
that the plant is used as a source for Furanocoumarins,
which are "used extensively in the treatment of leukodermia
and in the preparation of sun-tan lotions". See:

http://www.city.burnaby.bc.ca/__shar...Review3514.pdf

If you could contact one of the researchers working with
Furanocoumarins they may better be able to tell you how to
neutralize it. The aforementioned pdf has an extensive list
of sources/articles with it.

Maybe just timing your harvest to when the stalk is the
least toxic and then using several soakings would be
sufficient. At least I didn't note anyone dying from contact
with it...

Whatever you decide to do good luck with it.

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

Phototoxic?

You have SUN in Midlothian?

Shouldn't think there will be anything to worry about this year!

S


"Jack Campin - bogus address" wrote in message
...
Sorry - I do know how to detox Giant Hogweed.

This is clearly not the reply you want, but this plant is an invasive
and dangerous alien and should be eliminated. Please report it to
your local council and/or wildlife trust. Try http://www.swt.org.uk/

Given the extent of the cuts Midlothian Council have made in their
environment budget, they are about as likely to attack it as start
their own space programme.

People like me with a use for it are a better bet for getting it
under control right now. I've only seen about 20 plants in the
parts of the county I pass through regularly and I can make a fair
dent in that total single-handed.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk
==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660
4760
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554
975
stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739
557

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 19:34:54 GMT, "Steve H"
wrote:

Phototoxic?

You have SUN in Midlothian?

Shouldn't think there will be anything to worry about this year!

S

This may have been meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek but
there seems to be a bit more to it than just sunlight. It
seems to have caused a goat some trouble in this case:

http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublicati...ract/116/8/205

"Suspected poisoning of a goat by giant hogweed

AH Andrews, CJ Giles, and LR Thomsett

A five-year-old male African pygmy goat became ill four
weeks after transfer from a zoological garden to a municipal
park. The animal was subdued, refused to eat and drink and
showed profuse salivation. Examination of the mouth revealed
severe ulceration. The condition gradually responded to
nursing and supportive therapy. Circumstantial evidence
suggested the possibility that the lesions were caused by
giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Supportive
evidence that the plant could produce lesions was provided
by the application of a cut stem to the hard palate and a
solution of various dilutions to clipped areas of the backs
of two ewes. Both ewes produced reddened skin when the
concentrated solution was applied and both showed marked
reddening of the gingival mucosae and in one animal small
ulcers developed in the rostral part of the mouth. It is
suggested that H mantegazzianum may be a potential hazard
for grazing ruminants."

I have always been under the impression that goats could eat
pretty much anything. I did come across other info
suggesting that hogs and cows could be used to help keep
Giant Hogweed in check. I wouldn't think that there would be
that much difference between the three animals but it seems
like there is or this hasn't been thoroughly researched
(shrug).

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

Hmm, looks like you may have come up with another use for the plant other
than the musical instrument and sunscreen already mentioned! (Wonder if it
might work on squirrels and rabbits too...)

On the other hand, there are some odd things about poisonous plants. For
example, I had always avoided touching Monk's-hood (Aconite), having heard
stories of people getting numb arms or worse as a result of dead heading
etc. Then I was astonished to see a girl in Bishop's Stortford market
(that's UK - we could do with a UK offshoot of this botany group - there is
one on Yahoo, but it doesn't work with Outlook Express...), handing out big
bunches of cut Monks'hood. When I asked her if she felt allright, she said
she had been cutting and making up the bunches all week, and scoffed at my
suggestion that gloves might have been in order...

Anyhow, I'm getting off the subject, so cheers for now,

S


"Leon Fisk" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 19:34:54 GMT, "Steve H"
wrote:

Phototoxic?

You have SUN in Midlothian?

Shouldn't think there will be anything to worry about this year!

S

This may have been meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek but
there seems to be a bit more to it than just sunlight. It
seems to have caused a goat some trouble in this case:

http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublicati...ract/116/8/205

"Suspected poisoning of a goat by giant hogweed

AH Andrews, CJ Giles, and LR Thomsett

A five-year-old male African pygmy goat became ill four
weeks after transfer from a zoological garden to a municipal
park. The animal was subdued, refused to eat and drink and
showed profuse salivation. Examination of the mouth revealed
severe ulceration. The condition gradually responded to
nursing and supportive therapy. Circumstantial evidence
suggested the possibility that the lesions were caused by
giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Supportive
evidence that the plant could produce lesions was provided
by the application of a cut stem to the hard palate and a
solution of various dilutions to clipped areas of the backs
of two ewes. Both ewes produced reddened skin when the
concentrated solution was applied and both showed marked
reddening of the gingival mucosae and in one animal small
ulcers developed in the rostral part of the mouth. It is
suggested that H mantegazzianum may be a potential hazard
for grazing ruminants."

I have always been under the impression that goats could eat
pretty much anything. I did come across other info
suggesting that hogs and cows could be used to help keep
Giant Hogweed in check. I wouldn't think that there would be
that much difference between the three animals but it seems
like there is or this hasn't been thoroughly researched
(shrug).

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email