Hep Ragwort

[MKG]

Here's another link - this time without a single axe to grind ...

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... 212800.htm

Read that and you'll find that ragwort MUST be ingested to become anywhere near fatally toxic. The toxins are held in the plant in relatively innocuous form. It's the digestive system (particularly the liver) which reforms the toxins into a dangerous form, and then there is a cumulative effect.

There is no mechanism for skin absorption but, if you've been handling the stuff, obviously wash your hands before sticking 'em in your mouth. If skin absorption was a vector for the poison, then most grazing animals would fall down dead on the spot.

Formic acid, if present in quantity, can make you go blind. Now how many people get into a panic about the formic acid content of a nettle sting?

Mike

[Andy Hamilton]

Good link and info, cheers mike.