What causes the poison oak rash, poison ivy rash and sumac rash?
It all boils down to the skin’s reaction to a nasty little oil called urushiol—say “ooh-roo-she-all”. Urushiol is actually a toxic, resinous type substance that is found in all parts of the plants of poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. When urushiol gets on the skin it binds with the skin within 10-20 minutes. At that point the urushiol becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get off the skin with soap and water. The rash from poison oak, poison ivy and poison sumac is the body’s natural reaction to the toxin.
