Poison Sumac on my Chainsaw

[FlashPoint]

I feel your pain. Im highly allergic to all of it. Heres what i do after three trips to the doctor last summer. Technu is some good stuff but many ingredent is mineral spirts use paint thinner to clean your saw and wash down gloves and such. soap will remove the paint thinner residue. I looked and looked for a solution to keep from getting this stuff or to dry it up. Went as far as filling the hottub with 50lbs of salt rock and soaking. That helped. Only thing that has kicked it so far is Allergra medication.Dr said i was nutz but it keeps me from having it spread and goes away quickly.

 

[wushaw]

I forgot to mention that when I have had an PI outbreak I will just use Isoproplyl with a screw on spray top and spray affected area regularly to help dry it and to scratch, I know this is probably not the most used method or popular but it sure does feel good to scratch.

 

[marks]

I can't offer any suggestions for the decon of the saw, however I use a precontact solution and then decon with Technu or Zanfel. I've also found that high doses of vitamin C before and after contact, definetly helps.

 

[frank29]

The couple of times I exposed myself to poison ivy, and was aware of it, I aggressively washed my skin with detergent (powdered clothes washing stuff like Tide or whatever). The times I have done that I avoided all rash.

A couple of stories:

The worse exposure I ever had was about 25 years ago. I made a wreath out of you know what. While making the wreath, I answered the call of nature. Man oh man, it wasn't long before I was in trouble.

A friend was real careful in removing a bunch of posion ivy. He avoided all contact as he put it in a pile. He burned the stuff. He breathed some of the smoke and had internal "burns".

Lastly, I parked near a coworker's pickup that was full of the stuff. I mentioned it to him and he didn't have a clue as to what it was....he thought he was just loading harmless vines. It wasn't long before he was in as bad shape as I was when I made that wreath.

That stuff is wicked. Now I go overboard, anything with three leaves is avoided.

 

[KiotiJohn]

Clean the saw with turpentine or mineral spirits. They disperse the oils just fine. You can also use them on your skin right after exposure, but don't leave it on long as there can be health risks from absorption.

Keep in mind that PI, and PS can still be infectious up to one year after cutting, and as has been mentioned, don't burn it!

John

 

[RedRocker]

That stuff loves me and I've got a bunch of it on my place.

 

[Pilot]

Treat it the same way you would remove pitch, because the toxin is like sumac sap.

Diesel works well on pitch. I suspect turpentine or mineral spirits would, too.

I think your BIG challenge is what to do with the stuff in the piles. If you can do it legally, light the piles & leave for the day.

And in the future, I would hit the sumac hard with Weedmaster or Crossbow.

Be careful brush mowing. If you have to mow where there might be some of the stuff, wear a respirator so you don't inhale particles & shower promptly. That would be a big job to clean up a tractor or mower. That's why I like to spray!

 

[John_Mc]

Thanks everyone for all of the advice. I'm waiting for things to warm up a bit around here before I fire up the pressure washer. I'm figuring I'll do an alcohol or paintthinner wipe down, then hit it with the pressure washer with a bit of detergent in it to rinse things off

Fortunately, I've got two chainsaws. I just fired up the other one today. At least I hope it was the other one... it's been a while. I guess I'll find out in a day or so... between the saw and cutting up some logs in the burn pile, I could have let myself in for some trouble. I did try to wash up pretty thoroughly afterwards - alcohol, soap, lots of water, etc (no paint thinner or turpentine around, unfortunately).

I'll be ordering a supply of Tecnu tomorrow.

This has been an interesting experience. I;ve always had very minor reactions in the past. I'm hoping this one was just due to the very dry, chapped hands I had when working around the stuff.

John Mc

 

[miles2go]

Household bleach is very effective in denaturing poison oak/ivy/sumac residue. Use the bleach full strength. Then rinse well and re-oil, as previously suggested.

 

[RobT]

I've used Tecnu (which is available at Wal-Mart now) for skin and equipment. Great stuff. I also use WD-40 to wipe down equipment and to spray on small patches of PI that I find around the barns.