How else can urushiol spread?
Touching the plants, even if the plants are dead, and even in the winter months, can spread urushiol. Urushiol can be spread if a person burns the plants and comes in contact with the smoke. Wildfire fire fighters suffer tremendously from poison ivy/oak because they are continually in smoke that has particles of urushiol in it. Urushiol can be spread if a person gets urushiol on his or her clothing and then someone else comes in contact with the clothing. This is how spouses can end up getting the rash. Pets can get the urushiol on their fur and spread it to humans and furniture that way. Ironically, touching someone that has urushiol on his or her skin is a very unlikely way to spread the oil. That’s because, as mentioned earlier, the urushiol binds with a person’s skin and is very difficult to get off.
