How and why poison ivy is getting worse

Also: Inside the Friendship Project [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  August 22, 2023 Hi CommonHealth reader, A casual comment from a nurse practitioner set me off on my most recent reporting expedition. “I’m an expert at identifying poison ivy and getting poison ivy,” she told me. “And it is getting worse.” She didn’t know why cases would be getting worse and more frequent. But she was sure of what she’d seen and experienced. My curiosity was piqued. So, I started calling around. Many calls and emails later, I found studies and experts that validated her experience. One of the academic papers I read ended with the ominous warning that this could have significant implications for forests — but also for human health. The growing body of evidence suggests poison ivy is taking full advantage of climate change to get “bigger and nastier,” said Jacqueline Mohan, an ecology professor at the University of Georgia. Experiments show that warmer soil temperatures and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere drive poison ivy to change in three big ways: - Growth! The vine grows longer and the individual leaves get bigger. In one study in central Massachusetts, Mohan heated the top layer of soil and found this notorious three-leafed plant grew more than 100% faster than it did in cooler soil. In another older study, researchers pumped extra CO2 into one part of the forest and watched almost all the plants grow faster. But vines outpaced the other plants, and of all the plants in the study, poison ivy increased its growth rate the most. “It was the max,” William Schlesinger, an emeritus professor of biogeochemistry at Duke University, told me. - Toxicity! With more CO2, the plant starts making a [more potent form]( of the oil that gives most people an allergic reaction. Mohan said the actual chemical formation of the oil changes but she said nobody knows exactly why. And in [another study]( the amount of the urushiol oil produced per plant increased with more CO2. - Timing! With warmer weather, poison ivy leaves are emerging earlier and earlier in the year. This final change has been documented by Peter Barron, better known by his nickname Pesky Pete. He has an [eponymous poison ivy removal company]( in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and for 14 years he’s taken pictures of the first poison ivy buds he sees. That first picture used to consistently be snapped on May 10 or 11. This year he pulled out his phone for that picture on April 18. What can we do about poison ivy getting even more troublesome? I put that question to a dermatologist who sees the itchy, blistering rash regularly. He told me the best defense is being able to spot it. So, we put together a quiz that can help you test your poison ivy knowledge and identification skills. [Take the quiz]( and [read more on poison ivy research here](. Gabrielle Emanuel Health reporter [Follow]( Support the news  This Week's Must Reads [Facing an 'epidemic of loneliness,' some Mass. organizations try to help people make friends]( "People are so isolated and so lonely, and that has such a negative impact on their quality of life," said Jeff Keilson, senior vice president at Advocates, the human services agency that runs the Friendship Project. 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