You’d think that someone who is a science correspondent and is as allergic to poison ivy as I am would have heard of urushiol, but no. I didn’t recognize the word when I saw it a week or so ago. Now, thanks to my new beat (Joe’s Big Idea), I’m allowed to dig a little deeper into stories, and what I learned about urushiol is pretty amazing.
It all started with a press release I received from the American Chemical Society highlighting an article in the Journal of Organic Chemistry.
Urushiol is the oily sap on poison ivy leaves that causes all the problems.And it’s not only poison ivy, which doesn’t grow in California. Poison oak, poison sumac and poison dogwood all contain urushiol and will also give you a nasty rash.
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