Poison Ivy from wood pellets?

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bimmerbill

New Member
Dec 21, 2011
6
Southern NH
Hello all, new pellet stove owner here. I've burnt about 3/4 a ton of pellets and was wondering if it is possible to get poison ivy/sumack/oak from handling the pellets? Last week I had an outbreak of what looked like poison ivy, but have been nowhere near any plants or outside/in the woods.

The only wood I can think of is the wood pellets. I now use gloves, but was wondering if anyone had a similar issue?
Thanks,
BB
 
Wow never thought of that! But I bet its possible. Do you have a Cat?
 
I have never heard of that, and I hope I never do again. I am extremely allergic to poison ivy. Like someone who is allergic to bee stings, I have to go right to the hospital for a shot.

Tom C.
 
I thought poison ivy was caused by oils from the plant.....wouldn't the drying process take care of that? Just a thought, I have never heard of this and I have been burning for over 15 years.....
 
I am allergic to some woods. Cedar is one. Could be the same type of thing.

Looks like poison ivy on my arms after clipping cedar hedge.
 
Oil doesn't dry? I have gotten a touch from very dry vines on seasoned wood years back. You would think that if the wood being made into pellets had large juicy vines this may be possible. Just guessing
.
 
Urisol, the sticky oil from poison ivy can remain active on the pellets for over a year.
Fortunately mechanics soap will remove it off of your skin (providing you follow the directions).
 
I can't believe the process of squeezing (thousands of pounds of pressure and the related high temp) through the dies would not dissociate any oils present.
 
Don't worry its probably just smallpox you've caught.

Just joking, sorry about your breakout. If it is Urosol, then wash your hands with soap thoroughly immediately after contact.
 
Ooh if it is from the pellets that sux big time.
What brand are the pellets and where did you buy them?
Just in case anyone else happens to experience the same
they can compare notes here.
 
bimmerbill said:
Hello all, new pellet stove owner here. I've burnt about 3/4 a ton of pellets and was wondering if it is possible to get poison ivy/sumack/oak from handling the pellets? Last week I had an outbreak of what looked like poison ivy, but have been nowhere near any plants or outside/in the woods.

The only wood I can think of is the wood pellets. I now use gloves, but was wondering if anyone had a similar issue?
Thanks,
BB

I know that poison ivy is spread by direct contact with the oil. Was the outbreak on your hands/palms? If it was anywhere else, it seems unlikely it would be from the pellets.
As fun as it is to fondle the pellets, I now have a large bin for storage and a scoop to load the hopper.
 
djs_net said:
I know that poison ivy is spread by direct contact with the oil. Was the outbreak on your hands/palms? If it was anywhere else, it seems unlikely it would be from the pellets.
As fun as it is to fondle the pellets, I now have a large bin for storage and a scoop to load the hopper.

Direct contact is only one of the ways poison ivy can be spread. The worse case of it that I got, was when my father was burning brush. I ended up being covered head to toe with it.

Tom C.
 
silverfox103 said:
djs_net said:
I know that poison ivy is spread by direct contact with the oil. Was the outbreak on your hands/palms? If it was anywhere else, it seems unlikely it would be from the pellets.
As fun as it is to fondle the pellets, I now have a large bin for storage and a scoop to load the hopper.

Direct contact is only one of the ways poison ivy can be spread. The worse case of it that I got, was when my father was burning brush. I ended up being covered head to toe with it.

Tom C.
Same here, We were clearing land and burning brush for a new house when I was little, I was almost hospitalized from breathing it in.
 
It was on my wrists, back of my hands, and forearms. Some on my shoulder and chest where I could have scratched myself.

I have a fake Christmas tree, so am pretty sure it wasn't that.

Really, the only thing I can think of that was wood related is the pellets. I was wondering if they rake up all the chips and junk at the logging site and grind it up for pellets. That it the only way I can think of for some sort of poison ivy to get in there. I even asked my brother if he got into any of it since I borrowed his truck to go to the dump and wondered if there was any oil in the bed.

Pellets are from Home Depot, Fireside Ultra I think.

Maybe it was something else (kid is in grade school, so there is always something going around). I just wanted to see if anyone else had it happen so I could avoid it. It sure was itchy!
 
Well that just made me not to buy fireside Ultra's!, maybe your just allergic to the wood in the pellets.
 
Maybe it is Punky Poison Sumac.
 
Haven't had it in years but I used to get it bad... real bad. I hope getting it from pellets is not something I have to worry about.
 
I understand that any clothing especially shoes can have the "oil" on them and can cause an outbreak of poison ivy much later. I breakout in the rash just by looking out of the window toward the back yard :sick:

"How long does the oil last?
The oil from poison ivy is extremely stable and will stay potent - essentially forever. You can get a rash from clothing or tools that have the oil from last summer, or even from many years back.

So if you don't remove the oil by washing, using alcohol to dissolve it, or by just hosing off with a hard spray from a hose - assume it will stay forever."
 
Two things immediately come to mind. 1) Somewhere in your walking travels you made direct contact with some form of this plant, i.e., forest floor, brushy area, side of a tree trunk. Hence poison ivy's active ingredient urushiol, is a resin, is being held responsible for causing the rash, that now remains still active on either your clothing/gloves/tools or shoes/soles that were first being worn by you or used at time contact exposure incident took place. Urushiol does NOT behave like an oil, actually is a RESIN that will remain lasting active on any firm surface until removed. Resins always last for several years (5-7) until either it is physically removed or washed off using a solvent, (think of it behaving and lasting like a painted surface, paint tends to lasts and lasts until it is removed). BTW if this is the modality of how you think and believe you made contact with this plant, be reminded, ALL surface areas that you touched afterwards of the date and time you made physical contact with this plant without having washed your hands afterwards once your exposure was made, also now remain as contaminated from exposure to poison ivy and they also require being cleaned. Think door handles, steering wheel, tools, radio knobs, light switches etc. 2) The other possible means of contact is that some of the pellets your presently using, PERHAPS, may unknowingly have been tainted with poison ivy wood at the time of their manufacturing process. This might explain give reason to your recent rash outbreak symptoms. HOWEVER, if that were the case, ( which I seriously doubt) it presents a host of much more serious profound complex health risks (personal death and manufacturer's liability), that presents itself not only to yourself, but to all those persons surrounding you who enter into or come into contact with the wood stove's heated space. As they all too next find themselves unwitting victims, by breathing in the contaminated heated air that either is being vented flows freely and remains located directly inside the room being heated. Just as soon as poison ivy is burned, the resin is vaporized and next carries with it all of its own ursuhiol toxicity, is when this plant poses itself as a VERY serious real health threat to all those coming into contact with this plant's smoke. Directly breathing in the smoke that come from burning poison ivy IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS to your health. It has been known to kill those doing so. With this situation still in mind, bare in that other thing that comes to mind is that once the poison ivy laced smoke fills the air inside the room, not just your lungs remain susceptible to the rash, but now your entire body's whole outer surface next remains at risk of making contact with the toxic smoke vapors that are present, would then in turn give you one hell of a rash inside your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc. AND if this knowingly ever were to occur, immediate hospitalization with medical treatment is required. Although this situation is rare to occur, still it is not impossible, and if left untreated the perils that remain in the advent of it occurring, is when there have been known circumstantial reports made of people dying from complications that developed stemming from them breathing into their lungs toxic poison ivy smoke vapors. Since what occurs next in turn always follows, is the victims lungs blister and fill up with the lymph fluid that always remains present is being produced by the rash, causes the innocent victim to drowns within their own body fluids that are being produced. BTW, have you contacted the wood pellet manufacturer directly about this? I would. Hope this helps. "We're just itchin' to remove your poison ivy".
 
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