# Poison ivy safe to handle after herbicide? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783 "2014-06-14T17:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/1 "2014-06-14T17:31:47Z")
I blasted some poison ivy that was threatening our front stoop with Round-up (the kind marketed specifically for poison ivy and the like), and it did a far more effective job than I expected, killing that shit all the way to the ground. It’s brown and crunchy now, so I’m wondering if I still have to be haz-mat-level careful about handling it, or can I just put on some gardening gloves and rip it out? FWIW, I do not know if I am allergic. I’ve been careful all my life to this point, and really don’t want to find out. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/2 "2014-06-14T17:50:12Z")
The poison, urushiol remains active for up to several years, so NO - don’t handle dead poison ivy plants. Also, urushiol can stick to your clothes, so even gloves can transfer the poison if you rub your face or arm while pulling up the dead ivy. I would wear gloves, a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, shoes and socks and use a hoe or rake to carefully transfer the dead plants into a plastic bag. That might sound extreme, but I’ve had poison oak before and I do not want it again EVER. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/3 "2014-06-14T18:03:43Z")
This is why I asked. Haz-mat it is, then. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/4 "2014-06-14T18:06:58Z")
Also, don’t burn it. The smoke is irritating, and potentially dangerous, when inhaled. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/5 "2014-06-14T18:08:15Z")
Burning yard waste is illegal here, but good point for anyone playing along at home. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/6 "2014-06-14T18:08:41Z")
Realted question, if you were to mulch that up with a mulching lawnmower would the dust created be dangerous if inhaled? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/7 "2014-06-14T18:12:49Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Realted question, if you were to mulch that up with a mulching lawnmower would the dust created be dangerous if inhaled? Oh, yeah! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/8 "2014-06-14T18:25:20Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Realted question, if you were to mulch that up with a mulching lawnmower would the dust created be dangerous if inhaled? you would be taking big visible easily handled vines and make it into small bits that would stay on the ground and be able to cause irritation for many months if contacted. making a bad problem much worse. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/9 "2014-06-14T18:31:16Z")
you might want to wear over clothes, like coveralls, which can be easily washed. whatever is worn that could contact the plants needs to be removed and washed separate from other stuff without touching it with bare skin. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/10 "2014-06-14T18:31:40Z")
In Berton Roueche’s “Leaves of Three”, he describes an experiment where poison ivy was cut one summer and allowed to dry. It was left for a year exposed to the elements. The urushiol in it remained at virulent levels after that time and was fully capable of causing a severe rash. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/11 "2014-06-14T19:45:49Z")
FWIW - you can get Walter White style hazmat suits from amazon for under $10 - just mentioning that, because before I checked into it - I just assumed they’d be more expensive. Bonus is if you wear that outside - you will probably cause all kinds of rumors among your neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/12 "2014-06-14T20:01:08Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Bonus is if you wear that outside - you will probably cause all kinds of rumors among your neighbors. I once had to wear a full bee-keeper-type net outfit to get my riding lawnmower off a bumble bee nest (they nest in the ground). I think more rumors were started by my shrieking leap off a running mower…😃 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/13 "2014-06-14T20:22:27Z")
^ I would’ve paid much good money to have seen that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/14 "2014-06-14T21:44:20Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > ^ I would’ve paid much good money to have seen that. 🙂 The moneymaker was being called out of the shower early one Saturday to chase down a loose horse. Not even drying off, I threw on jeans and a t-shirt (take that literally) and ran up the road. By the time the horse was caught I had four male neighbors assisting me. Even my next-door neighbor, who had twisted his knee the week before, was limping along trying to “help”. One of my finer “what was I thinking?” moments…:o ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/15 "2014-06-15T00:41:56Z")
Nuke them from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. And be careful of the fallout because it will cause itching long before it kills you. In the immortal words of Lieber and Stoller, Measles make you bumpy And mumps’ll make you lumpy And chicken pox’ll make you jump and twitch A common cold’ll fool ya And whooping cough’ll cool ya But poison ivy, Lord’ll make you itch! ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-safe-to-handle-after-herbicide/690783/16 "2014-06-16T02:14:15Z")
Dead or dormant P.O. isn’t as nasty as fresh green oily leaves, but if you are extra sensitive, yes, you can get a rash. Its effect on individual humans varies enormously, from no effect at all to swelling your eyes closed for a week. I get a few bumps that itch now and then. Never, ever, burn it. That’s how you end up in the hospital. You just do not want that oil in your lungs. I bet ground up dust could do the same. We live in a forest the understory of which is mainly poison oak, so, decades of personal experience here. When we work in poison oak, we wear any clothes that prevent direct contact, doesn’t matter what. We take shower breaks at two hour intervals, strip off all clothes and toss them directly in the washer, and jump into the shower and scrub down _completely_. Any soap will work if you wash soon enough. No soap will work if you wait too long.