![]() (More exposure.)īy the time I finished, it was pushing midday, with a bright, beaming blue sky = lots of nice, intense sunlight. (Lots of exposure.) I gathered up the bundles of plant tops after removing the roots with my bare arms. The only way to reach the roots to pull them out was to stick my arm into lots of foliage. I had thinned and weeded the patch when the plants were younger, but this round of thinning took place when the plants were a couple feet tall. The area I was working on was roughly 80 square feet, very thickly planted, mostly with carrots and parsnips. It was hot, so I was sweating = more wet skin + heat, both triggers for phytophotodermatitis. I was working in the morning, so the plants were covered in dew. I did get about an inch long blister from wild parsnip, but none from garden parsnip. In all my years of gardening, these past couple of decades on my own and helping mom out growing up, I've never been burned by garden parsnip before. I'm not skipping the carrots, parsley or celery, either. I'm Going to Stop Growing “Poison Parsnips” Because They're Too Dangerous The photo below is as example of how large the blisters can get. ![]() The wild parsnip burns (and those from other wild plants like hogweed or queen Anne's lace) can be some of the worst, because people do terrible things like running weed whackers with shorts on and get their legs all covered with little bits of parsnip (and sap), like the poor guy featured in the article “ Burned by Wild Parsnip” in Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine. The phytophotodermatitis from limes is also referred to as “ margarita dermatitis” because of all those poor folks who have sucked on their limes in the summer sun. ![]() The Medscape site shows a rather nasty blister that covers about 1/3 of the forearm of a flight attendant who spilled lime juice on her skin. The veggies typically cause burns on agricultural workers and grocers, who handle large quantities of plant material. Garden parsnip and wild parsnip are both different varieties of the same species – Pastinaca sativa. Some of you may have also heard about getting blisters from wild parsnip or poison parsnip, but may not have realized the garden parsnips can also cause burns. Those who are into botany will notice that the top six plants on the list are all related to each other (they are members of the Apiaceae family). Russian sage ( Perovskia atriplicifolia).Chrysanthemums – Chrysanthemum genus, aster family.Giant Hogweed( Heracleum mantegazzianum).Queen Anne's Lace (Wild Carrot) (Daucus carota).Plants that may cause phytophotodermatitis include (but are not limited to): Here's a kicker – there are wide range of plants that can cause this condition that you might never suspect. If one person applied the problem perfume and was in close contact with another person, they might spread the perfume – and the skin condition. (Bergamot is one of the citrus fruits that can trigger PPD.) There are older perfumes that used oil of bergamot. The only case that might be an exception is berloque dermatitis, a special type of phytophotodermatitis caused by perfumes. Only those directly exposed to the problem plants and conditions experience skin reactions. Washing may help limit additional damage. I did shower after working in the garden, but it didn't do any good. ![]() You cannot “wash off” phytophotodermatitis chemicals with soap and water once they are activated by UV radiation. If you visit the Medscape website, they go into a detailed explanation of how the chemicals in the plants that cause the damage (Furocoumarins) are activated in stages under different conditions, and how they actually damage the DNA of the skin. ![]() If you're working with wet plants on a hot summer day, it's going to be worse. This is one of the aspects that makes PPD different from most other contact dermatitis. You don't realize you're in trouble until several days after exposure, by which point, you're skunked. In other words, your skin erupts with blisters and itchy, burning red areas because you were in contact with plant chemicals (in this case, parsnip and carrot sap) and exposed to sunlight. The phototoxic result may be intensified by wet skin, sweating, and heat. The eruption usually begins approximately 24 hours after exposure and peaks at 48-72 hours. Phytophotodermatitis (PPD) is a cutaneous phototoxic inflammatory eruption resulting from contact with light-sensitizing botanical substances and long-wave ultraviolet (UV-A 320-380 nm) radiation. Medscape defines Phytophotodermatitis as:
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