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#1
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detoxifying giant hogweed
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 |
#2
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detoxifying giant hogweed
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 |
#3
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detoxifying giant hogweed
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 |
#4
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detoxifying giant hogweed
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! |
#5
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detoxifying giant hogweed
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 |
#6
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detoxifying giant hogweed
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 |
#7
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detoxifying giant hogweed
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 |
#8
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detoxifying giant hogweed
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 |
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