On Sun, Feb 22, 2004 at 08:50:36PM -0600, john niolon wrote:
>
> My dad was a surveyor and land agent for 60 years... I've seen him pull up
> poison oak with his bare hands and never have a breakout... the only time he
> had a problem was during WWII ...he was in training in California and was
> nearly hospitalized the reaction was so bad... must be something different in
> the left coast plant...
Nope, same active agent, urushiol.
It's an allergic reaction, and different people have
different thresholds. Some never reach their threshold
and are "immune". Some, like your dad and me, go a while
before they get exposed enough to reach their threshold.
(I never knowingly exposed myself though)
But once it happens, your threshold can be lowered.
If you're unlucky like me, it can get so low that you
get it from your tools that cut a little poison oak last year.
Eric
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