The Plant Irritant Tierlist (Plant Irritant Lore)

[@That_Chemist]

Subscribe to Curiosity Stream and start exploring the world around you! bit.ly/CuriosityStreamThatChemist1123

[@zdelrod829]

urushiol is terrifying. C105 H162 O10 (Yes, that's 105 Carbons, 162 Hydrogens, and 10 Oxygens)

[@blu12gaming44]

What about the compounds in the notorious Manchineel Tree that sends people to the hospital all the time?

[@How_To_Drive_a_TARDIS]

*Rawzin* resin

[@sqeekykleen49]

Jordan Peterson? I didn't know apple cider had meth in it.

[@Chemical_Individual]

Probably not a hot take, but I’ll say this anyways: One of my favorite parts about organic chemistry is seeing derpy side chains, over-the-top ring systems, and cursed molecular structures.

[@lettersnstuff]

it’s not cursed if it works

[@jsalsman]

aconitine threading through itself, I've never seen that before.

[@ResidentWeevil2077]

@@lettersnstuffif it looks cursed but actually works, wouldn't it be blursed then?

[@scoutharris8586]

Suffering through gen chem makes me greatly appreciate all the cool things that organic chemists have studied it's neat

[@tomarmadiyer2698]

"you can't eat money!" *Tulip speculator chuckles*

[@Kceam]

I was always terrified of giant hogweed and it's phototoxic sap (due to: bergapten, psoralen and methoxsalen) the thought of not noticing anything in the beginning and then getting severe burns over time just by being exposed to light is terrifying.

[@timlehmann9067]

Yea furocoumarins are fucking terrifying. I have seen some truly horrible burns caused by them. Don't mess with giant hogweed, it WILL win.

[@kaboom4679]

Seen several bad cases of folks tangling with Giant Hogweed . Motorcyclists crashing into patches of it ( one had the doubly unfortunate luck of also encountering the barbed wire fence in the middle of the patch ..) . Several cases of folks attempting to mow or weed eat the stuff . One case of 4 kids who decided these big plants were just the thing to break off and chase and beat each other with . Fun fact , narcotics don't work as well as one might hope for these rashes / burns . Definitely a plant you want to " nuke from orbit " .

[@timlehmann9067]

@@kaboom4679 funnily the official policy here is that if a patch of the stuff is too big, they just send a bunch of people to torch it all because dealing with it any other way would be too annoying lmao

[@GerinoMorn]

I remember seeing Sosnowsky's hogweed growing all over any bit of free land. I didn't even want to look its way, dad told me enough horror stories xD

[@joshuaolander201]

That damn hog weed is all over the place where I live

[@Oldtanktapper]

My greatest capsaicin moment was when I had the brilliant idea of using it to get rid of a nest of mice that had taken up residence under my stove. I’d grown some very, very hot scorpion chillies and had the thought I could use them as a fumigant. I loaded some dried ones in my bee smoker and proceeded to huff smoke under the stove. Well done me, I just made a very good approximation of tear gas, it’s irritant effects were easily on a par with the stuff I’ve experienced the police using. The mice moved out though, so not a total lose.

[@everythingsalright1121]

All natural tear gas sounds like something you could market to those super health/nature freaks that go way beyond environmentally friendly

[@internetuser8922]

I'm absolutely terrified of Phorbol & the Manchineel plant in general. It contains a lot of other scary compounds as well. If you've not heard of the Manchineel plant, it's worth looking it up. I don't know of any other singular plant species that is more horrifying than this one. The Backyard scientist did a video where he intentionally exposed himself to the Gympie Gympie plant, which similar to stinging nettle, injects you with histamine, formic acid, and some other horrible compounds, but is supposed to be way worse compared to the nettles. It's from Australia & has some rather unpleasant colloquial names & stories associated with it. He was absolutely not at all willing to expose himself to Manchineel however, even though the plant is native to his area. Exposure can cause permanent injury, blindness or even death in extreme cases.

[@Tinil0]

That's very strange. Manchineel is of course AWFUL when swallowed, but the contact dermatitis it gives is, as far as I can see from the literature, not nearly as bad as the gympie gympie. I mean, I of course still wouldn't touch it, but I sure as hell wouldn't touch gympie gympie either, so I think whoever that is has some...interesting priorities.

[@internetuser8922]

@@Tinil0 the scary part about manchineel is it can cause really nasty blisters/sores/open wounds & get infected or cause scarring. Gympie gympie, at least from what I saw in the backyard scientist video, basically maxes out your pain receptors, but doesn't cause as much permanent damage. Obviously both are insanely unpleasant however, just in different ways.

[@lucian1985]

Got hit by rainwater that passed through a Manchineel tree and half of my face got swollen for 2 days, it's awful.

[@user-oz5yk9bm5c]

ofcourse its from australia lmao

[@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648]

manchineel gives you phorbol phobia

[@darioabbece3948]

You forgot to mention that pepper spray can induce blindness. That seems pretty irritating

[@zdelrod829]

Pepper spray has capsaicin iirc.

[@EddSjo]

Only temporary blindness

[@saintjohnny45]

You forgot the Gympie-Gympie Tree and its toxin Moroidin! (Also called the suicide tree by many)

[@kyuofcosmic]

I have a plant irritation story that might raise some eyebrows. Back in High School in Australia, I had this temporary/sub teacher that was a hard ass and notoriously assumed that Australia was basically a ‘mini Britain’ as she was from there and was on a visa. This was a minor irritant until we had a field trip to the local national park. Being Australia, especially in summer it’s a wise idea not to wander off the trail but none the less, our teacher badly marched onward in search of a place to have her lunch. Her choice of plants was disasterous as she’d picked a Gympie plant if all things to settle under. We had, in vain, tried to warn her but she brushed us off, assuming she knew better. If you thought poison ivy was bad? Gympie trees take that sensation and ramp it up to 12. For further context, the tree is also known as the suicide tree. There was a blissful minute when the effects of the plant hadn’t yet registered. Then it hit. Nearly every student was watching, as her dour expression twisted and morphed into something out of a Edvard Munch painting. Sweat dripped down the teachers forehead like a river as she tried and failed to maintain composure. She lasted a minute before leaping up and howling in agony, even trying rolling around on the ground, as if she was on fire. Which was pretty much the opposite of a good idea, since fallen leaves of this tree can sting. For twenty minutes, this teacher cried out, completely non-responsive to our pleading for her to stay still. We’d ended up calling an ambulance for her and she missed an entire week of school. As far as we know, there was no long term issues but a very important lesson was learned that day.

[@bingrusginckle]

absolutely crazy comment

[@swifty_tube]

I commented above on this plant. There's a reason it's called the suicide plant.

[@fictionindianspaceprogram-222]

Sad. But this is typical British ignorance.

[@mrvwbug4423]

So based on other videos I've seen, apparently that badboy can cause lingering effects for months and potentially permanent nerve damage.

[@S3lkie-Gutz]

@@mrvwbug4423 yup, I have nerve disease and I would never want to run into my plant as I already have a 'fun' little mini trial of that plants effects thanks to demylination of my nerves causing peripheral neuropathy and trigeminal neuralgia(aka the suicide disease it earned this nickname because of how unbearable the episodes of nerve pain in your trigeminal nerves can be) so I absolutely cannot imagine the agony of getting the toxic sap in your skin while experiencing underlying nerve damage on top of that already

[@whoever6458]

I climbed a cliff covered in poison oak. That would be embarrassing enough except for I was a biology student at the time and failed to recognize the poison oak because I didn't realize it gets fall colors. Duh! The only thing worse is what happened to my brother when he was a little kid and we were backpacking because he used the leaves to wipe his ass after taking a dump in the woods. lmao

[@Kualinar]

Wiping his butt with poison ivy... 💀Poor kid. Since I was a kid, we where told to NEVER EVER use any leave from near the ground if we ever need to go in nature. Always use leaves from as high as we can reach. Don't touch those smooth and shiny leaves.

[@andersjjensen]

@@Kualinar As a boy scout I was taught that only dandelion leaves and ferns are suitable for rear echelon paper work. The Danish fauna doesn't have particularly many poisonous things, but the few that exist are absolutely nasty and looks like other, common, things. Especially when not in bloom.

[@0alalune0]

I have a story about asparagus. I was at a fancy banquet - the kind with a receiving line and speeches - and while in the washroom after dinner, a very classy and well-dressed person came in and immediately exclaimed "whoo! guess we all had the asparagus!"

[@AnAmericanComposer]

Furocoumarin (Heracleum sp.) would have been a good addition, as well as Cardenolide (Asclepias sp.)

[@Mis73rRand0m]

I am growing a large Carolina Reaper plant and accidentally tugged on the fruit while harvesting - you really don't need gloves normally but oh my did I learn to be careful about only touching the stem since that very long spicy day. It wasn't quite like being pepper sprayed, more like a sunburn for every mucus membrane.

[@nathanielreichert4638]

Have you ever done the opposite tier-list which would be best pain relievers in nature?

[@Just1Nora]

As a chronic pain sufferer, I too would like to know this.

[@Psilomuscimol]

Kratom and opium poppies are the two that work best, I think.

[@SamFirthDesigner]

After watching people eating cashew fruit, I helped myself to one and then tried to crack into the green nut pod with my bare mouth. The effect was instant and awful. The oily stuff burned me terribly and couldn't be washed off until I actually got soap and washed my mouth with soap and water. Not recommended

[@Simlatio]

In New Zealand there is a plant that has lots of hairs that cause painful stings and itches.... until it finally paralyses you. Its called 'ongaonga' I remember a story of a bush walker wearing shorts who walked through a patch and died from exposure from the subsequent paralysis. Of course, there are more toxic plants, more painful plants, more irritating plants... but there is something so sinister about a plant that behaves like a stinging nettle with a hemlock surprise.

[@farcenter]

I think you meant Socrates death, but you nailed the 14 pro part. Everyone gets that wrong.

[@metiscus]

I was about to say that the painting depicted the death of Socrates not Aristotle.

[@coyotedomino]

i put about two drops of fig latex, containing furanocoumarins, on my hand because i heard it was a folk medicine for warts. i spent some time in the sun in the days after washing it off and it ended up taking almost a month to fully heal, blistered badly, and left a minor scar. phytophotogenotoxins are cool 😎👍

[@rmayer4086]

Another interesting phytophotogenotoxins is tridecyl resorcinol of the Australian Silky Oak tree. Interestingly in that tree the leaves are pretty harmless, but the sawdust can cause severe reactions so treecutters need to watch out for them.

[@Gin-toki]

One compound that is a definite S-tier is "gympietides" from the plant Dendrocnide Moroides also known as Gympie-Gympie. It is known as the most painfull plant in the world to be stung by, it's pain being so excruciating and longlasting (serveral days) that people stung by it, wants to end their life. Thus it also has the nickname "Suicide Plant" The "gympietides" are a form of disulfide-rich peptides which are pretty stable and thus longlasting, even dry leaves from the plant has shown to still cause immense pain serveral years after their harvest. The plant also contains a lot of other toxins and compounds but none of them have been found to be as painful as the "gympietides".

[@andersjjensen]

And, strangely enough, goats are not immune to it. Goats usually chow on poisonous shit that would drop cow and thorny stuff that make buffaloes whimper, but I take comfort in knowing that they didn't just get plot armour for planet earth.

[@Gin-toki]

@@andersjjensen Lol yeah, same with birbs who also seems unaffected by most poisonous berries and nuts. And then they just eat a bit of clay or silt to absorb the more potent poisons in their stomach. However chocolate is almost instantkill for them :P

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

8:30 that was some weak nettle my friend. The Bull Nettle outside my house was one of the most acutely painful things I've ever felt. Barely a touch to the finger (wasnt even expecting to feel anything) and the only way i can describe it is like hot oil. 1000 degree hot oil.

[@samblackstone3400]

I do plant surveys over the summer to look for endangered species. In Arizona, one plant I run into frequently is a shrub called acacia or catclaw. No chemical irritant produced by a plant in Arizona can compare to the pain this thing’s barbed spines cause when they get into you, legitimately the worst plant in the state imo.

[@johnnixon4085]

You should definitely do a video on the furanocoumarins found in giant hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum. Fun stuff!

[@Godwh1sperer]

Mustard, Onion & Wasabi: "Are we a joke to you?"

[@francescogiuseppearagona1109]

Speaking of burning, you should consider also mustard, and its active principles, allyl, benzyl and pentyl thiocyanates. Allyl thiocyanate is also found in Wasabi. About furanocoumarines, one (dis)honorable mention should be the giant hogweed, which had to be eradicated from Britain because it was just too dangerous. Last but not least it would be interesting to mention the gympie gympie, but Tom from Explosions&fire would be more suited to talk about Australian plants 😂😂

[@Flesh_Wizard]

Tom is the type of guy to get stung by a Gympie and try to synthesise the toxin 😂

[@user-bl7ik5mn9w]

one time my friend convinced me and another friend to join the "pain club" and i punched a stinging nettle plant like 5 times

[@Flesh_Wizard]

Standing here, I realise You were just like me Trying to make history But who's to judge The right from wrong When our guard is down I think we'll both agree That violence breeds violence But in the end it has to be this way

[@tylerswanson6358]

Interestingly enough phorbol is a tumor-promoter but 12-deoxyphorbol (e.g. prostratin) is actually a tumor-suppressor

[@peasant502]

That chemist: "i went outside" All mouthpipetters: "🧢"

[@aloysiusdevadanderabercrombie8]

2:41 I'd like to say that it's not just to get a better sound on the instrument, it's to get ANY sound on the instrument. If you try to play with an unrosined bow, you're just gonna hear a faint whispery sound, not any actual notes.

[@PaulSteMarie]

Urushiol is also used for Japanese lacquers. Rosin is also used as a flux for soldering, especially for electronics.

[@hckr47]

I quite like urushiol mostly because of the lacquer and kintsugi, which uses the lacquer, but also because it doesn't affect me making me useful during poison ivy season.

[@andersjjensen]

Is natural rosin even used as flux any more?

[@PaulSteMarie]

@@andersjjensen Dunno if "activated" or "mildly activated" rosin falls under "natural". My understanding it that they have small amounts of an acidic compound added. RMA and RA solder are quite common. The stuff that can be washed off with water isn't rosin-based, but I've never used it. My understanding is that it can leave conductive residues if not completely washed off

[@Just1Nora]

Here I am just lamenting that I can no longer use the flux with fluoride on my jewelry. No big exhaust system at home...and it really flows well and doesn't bubble! 😅

[@bradwilliams7198]

I realize Jordan Peterson isn't a phytotoxin, but it would be interesting to see where he ranks on the irritant scale.

[@mrhardway5278]

I’m immune to the effects of poison ivy and poison oak and as an arborist it has made me a ton of money because I can do removals of both those plants especially when they have climbed trees with no protective clothing. I just have to be careful not to touch other people when I’m done. My ex hugged me once when I got done with a poison ivy removal and it messed her up for a few days. I can literally roll around in it and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

[@anomaly3215]

i wonder if it's genetic or if you're just an anomaly

[@kaboom4679]

I had an ex GF who accidentally triggered a container of pepper spray by getting it caught on her seatbelt . It discharged directly on her posterior . Later references to " hot ass " were not well received .

[@Flesh_Wizard]

lmao

[@adio222]

Early this summer I went fishing and I believe I made my first contact with a stinging nettle and I was highly confused, but for some reason the reaction went away rather quickly when I put river water on the area. I normally have absolutely terrible allergies and get hives from things such as: being in an area at a given time with no explanation. I was kind of shocked the reaction wasn't ten times worse.

[@dustangel7668]

Those phototoxic compounds are a blast! We have quite a lot of hogweeds (Heracleum sosnowskyi) after being introduced during soviet times as a potential honey plant and then just spreading all around the place. When I was about 10 or so years old, one summer day I decided to demolish those big-leaf plants growing on the river bank just for fun. I didn't really know what they were and what they could do back then, so I took a scythe blade from our scrap metal pile and set to whacking them wearing only my undies. At first, nothing happens; sometime later it starts itching but nothing can be seen yet, and then...lots of tiny blisters popped up on both of my arms (wrist to elbow) and a huge blister on my foot (fingers to ankle). Now, almost thirty years later, there are no traces on my right arm, you can see some scars on my left arm if you know where to look; on that unfortunate foot the scar, however, is about three-by-three fingers large.

[@jsalsman]

Omg what even is that aconitine structural diagram?!? 5:50

[@science_and_anonymous]

So ginko biloba seeds contain one of the most highly inflammatory urushiol-type compounds known. I once (or twice) mistakenly touched the seeds without gloves and received massive full-body hives and inflammation. The swelling was so bad on my face I could barley open my eyes, and the itching was severe, I would scratch my skin till it blistered. Terrible, terrible fate. The seeds are ironically edible but can deplete B-vitamins if you eat too many and cause you to have seizures. The leaves have a plethora of phytochemicals that can improve cognitive function in individuals with neurodegenerative disorders.

[@TheMightyOmega-NotTheAlpha]

I’m one of those lucky people who is immune to Urushiol, but I hate stinging nettles with a passion! I was once out hiking and I fell into a ditch full of those $&@?!!! things and it was like being on fire until we could get out of the woods and to somewhere to get antihistamine cream.

[@orthoplex64]

Every time I go in some area with random wild plants, even just a few square feet for a few minutes, I get chigger bites that itch and take weeks to heal. Now knowing there are so many irritants in just the plants themselves is even more reason to forever avoid them.

[@amiralozse1781]

Gimpy gimpy aka Dendrocnide moroides aka 'the suicide plant' is worth looking at though according to wiki the active poison isnt yet known

[@drrocketman7794]

My experience with urushiol was really, really bad. I was starting to go into anaphylaxis, my lungs were getting fluid and my left calf was bigger around than my thigh. I was starting to lose circulation at the back of my knee, if I'd waited much longer I would've had necrosis.

[@MigraineBuddy420]

If anyones curious this video was his attempt to prove to his wife that he was still capable of touching grass.

[@prapanthebachelorette6803]

I have passion for chemistry by heart and some laboratory horror stories but it’s out of context for now. Here’s something about plant compounds. If you’re at any open air food stand in Thailand that offers tables and chairs for you to dine at the place, then someone ordered any stir fry dish that is very spicy by nature…… all diners sneeze in unison 😂. But don’t get me wrong, most people understand and the food itself is beyond delicious 😋. Imagine chili, black pepper, garlic, shallot, kaffir lime leaves, basil, curry powder, etc. and all aromatic compounds in them with the heat from cooking. Such an experience I wish everyone had a chance to enjoy. If you can’t tolerate spices very well you can tell the cook that you want a less spicy version of that dish. Prepare some tissues and drinking water and you should be alright 😊 P.S. if you have any medical conditions with extra sensitive mucus membrane issues, now you know beforehand to choose a dining place where the kitchen and the dining area are more well-separated 😉

[@swifty_tube]

The Gympie Gympie - Dendrocnide moroides plant has incredible toxicity I'm surprised it did not make the cut. It's commonly known as the suicide plant native to Australia. I believe it to be a neurotoxin isolated as a peptide named after the plant gympietides. I went down a google hole for this information as I have rudimentary knowledge in horticulture so I may have things a bit confused as my understanding in chemistry is quite lacking.

[@ButterBallTheOpossum]

Rosin is also used in baseball. Pitchers rub it on their hands for grip.

[@justsomenightowl7220]

Me finding out the plants around me are lethal in tiny doses: WHAT IF I ATE IT AT LIKE AGE 4 WHY HAS NO ONE TOLD ME THIS

[@Flesh_Wizard]

To be fair, most plants taste horrible. A 4yo would likely have it hit their tongue and instantly spit it out

[@SuperAngelofglory]

I love capsaicin. And, boy, did I learn the hard way to thoroughly wash my hands with plenty of soap after chopping jalapeños!

[@martinivers489]

I never knew Aristotle died by poison hemlock, same as Socrates...

[@pseudomastix2916]

That painting depicts Socrates, not Aristotle.

[@martinivers489]

@@pseudomastix2916 Hence my comment. He says "Aristotle".

[@Oosh21]

S+ = Gympietides. Neurotoxic peptides similar to cone snail venom from the gympie-gympie (aka suicide plant or Australian stinging tree).

[@beanman853]

Rosalin was also used as flux for soldering at one point

[@VO_Bot]

I still have some ancient rosalin flux in my soldering box somewhere! It's mostly useless because most solders now have a flux core, but it sure it a novelty.

[@virtualtools_3021]

i've succesfully used straight pine resin as flux many times

[@bepstein111]

@@VO_Bot just because there’s a flux core doesn’t mean it’s enough flux, or, rather, doesn’t mean that adding more won’t help most people, especially people who haven’t been soldering for as long. My MO is usually “drown it in flux and wash it all off after”

[@wtzhangwtzhang9439]

Histamine should be S+++ tier. Sure it won’t kill you or cause major symptoms in you but considering how it is commonly secreted in your body and the annoying symptoms it can produce such as coughs, runny noses, itches etc., putting it in D tier just wrong. Sometimes irritation comes from the small symptoms. Just ask anyone with seasonal allergies

[@me0101001000]

The puns made me laugh and groan at the same time

[@0alalune0]

I couldn't believe the curiosity stream segue

[@SeekingTheLoveThatGodMeans7648]

If blackberry leaves are irritating, why are blackberries themselves so yummy?

[@Dr.Snooze-gt5yg]

Bring one of those birds to a hot pepper eating contest

[@shuckieddarns]

As far as it comes to TRPV1 agonists, resiniferatoxin is scary. It can be detected by a tasting panel at one five-hundredth the concentration required to detect capsaicin. coming from the resin spurge, which has been know to kill small animals that bite it. Interestingly, it has promise as a pain-treatment drug. Not as a pain reliever so much as a pain-sensing-nerve reliever, if you will. Applying local anesthetic, the procedure is to expose a given area on the human to a fairly high concentration of resiniferatoxin. This concentration would cause debilitating pain. But once the procedure is done, the ion channel is more or less broken, from my understanding. Definitely worth looking into!

[@ZentaBon]

I love when I get stung by irritating plants! It's the best! I now have a wishlist of plants to go roll around in on my travels. Gotta get irritated by 'em all!

[@eskhatos]

When I was younger, my friends and I were hanging out on Valentine's Day, and the host's mom got tulips, and I was just munching on some of the petals because it tasted like sweet lettuce. I was fine, but it's really funny to learn that there's harmful compounds in it lmao.

[@emberthecatgirl8796]

2:26 you could say that it wouldn’t be to *pine*ful!

[@amosbackstrom5366]

Urushiol is also found in mangos, probably a different length chain then the version in poison ivy. I used to be highy allergic as a kid but I liked mangos too much and ate small amounts anyway and now I'm pretty tolerant to it. It would cause a rash around the lips and mouth that was extremely uncomfortable and made it painful to open the mouth at all for a couple days

[@wewillrockyou1986]

Some years ago I made chili sauce with a friend when we were staying out in a ranch/cabin in the southern Andes mountains. The place had no heated water (apart from one washroom) or mains electricity. After making the chili sauce i washed my hands with soap and went to take a nap, when i woke up i thought I'd been bitten by a spider or something because a whole side of my face and shoulder and hands were inflamed. After a few hours of nervously checking for other symptoms to try and identify what had bitten me, it occurred to me that washing my hands with cold water wouldn't have gotten the (fat soluble) capsaicin off my hands...

[@georgejanzen774]

Urushiol is pretty wild to me. I work with 5-Alkylresorcinols, which are structurally similar but perfectly safe to eat

[@That_Chemist]

Interesting!

[@That_Chemist]

Do you make them by friedel crafts acylation?

[@georgejanzen774]

@@That_Chemist Well I'm not usually making them. As much as I'd sometimes like to be, I'm not a synthetic chemist but an analytical one. We use them as a grain biomarker (they are biosynthesized in the pericarp). But I did attempt myself at some synthesis since reference standards are hard to come by. Friedel Crafts seemed a bit too unregiospecific to me and I didn't wanna do a Wittig since you have to reduce the double bond after that (what if you want other unsaturations in the alkyl chain?). So I did a Suzuki-Miyaura from the corresponding aryl boronate and an alkyl bromide. This combination is a bit exotic, but I found a paper using a Ni catalyst and it worked decently.

[@georgejanzen774]

The resorcinol has to be a dimethyl ether though. The methyl groups are cleaved with aluminium iodide in the last step, which I haven't done yet.

[@Tekdruid]

5:50 That structure looks super busy. I feel uncomfortable just looking at it.

[@cyrilio]

Request to do a video about all different alcohols. Not sure how to rate them, can be either for deadlyness, or perhaps if they can 'get you high'. Either way, I'm sure there are plenty to discuss.

[@stevengill1736]

Just stopped by to see if my old nemesis urushiol was here....but of course - cheers!

[@kenhaze5230]

Histamine is also the neurotransmitter used in posterior hypothalamus as part of the reticular activating system, which is necessary for some obscure cognitive processes such as being awake and conscious.

[@ZijnShayatanica]

I wonder if that could be a factor as to why the histamine-intolerant of us have such a propensity for fatigue, among other issues? It's obviously too complex to be explained by a single neurotransmitter used in a single system, but it's definitely interesting to consider.

[@ZijnShayatanica]

Thank you so much for sharing your comment.

[@yesthatkarim9601]

this comment sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole about antihistamines being sedating. Turns out all the original antipsychotic drugs were also antihistamines. There was no pharmaceutical treatment for violent psychiatric patients mid-century, so here! 👨‍🔬🧪💊 have something that’s just going to make you dopey and sluggish! patient cured! 🎉 another interesting link hypothesizes that, conversely, histamine in the brain is associated with wakefulness. maybe instead of Red Bull we should just expose ourselves to poisonous plants for a pick-me-up 😅

[@Bighaus1234]

Great video! You should do one ranking the effectiveness of different cold meds, (since we just found out the phenylephrine is useless, lol). Pseudoephedrine all the way!!!

[@BiglyWeenis]

Hey Mr Chemist! Hopefully you see this, or someone else finds it interesting. I'm a plant molecular biologist and spent three years studying poison ivy in my undergrad! Urushiol is a fascinating compound, both biochemically and ecologically. Unfortunately humans are the only species to exhibit an allergic reaction to it. Anacardic acid is commonly found in the plant family Anacardiaceae, including poison ivy. It is probably a precursor to urushiol, but this hasn't been demonstrated yet to my knowledge. The degree of unsaturation is a large contributor to the allergenic potency of an urushiol congener, in addition to the number of carbons. Three triple bonds commonly occur, and unfortunately a some studies have shown that this is becoming more prevalent with increasing CO2 levels. Good thing is, urushiol is quite unstable. It undergoes a polymerization reaction to become a hard, inert, non-allergenic lacquer. Polymerization can be accelerated with H2O2, soap and warm water is also good - that's how our lab cleaned up. The lacquer tree, Toxicodendron vernicifluum, has been utilized for this purpose for centuries. Some modern materials science has explored urushiols as a rubber alternative for tires. I think it has a lot of potential in that field, especially if the biosynthesis can be replicated in a bio reactor.

[@Matt_The_Hugenot]

Don't forget atropine and others from Belladonna, digitalin, and ricin.

[@vseslavkazakov356]

please make more videos about interesting molecules that can be found in plants. This was really interesting.

[@richardduarte9118]

Hm. No gimpi gimpi plant unless it was that one thing that was in poison oak.

[@leon13noelspy]

A friend of mine is a gardener and collects seeds. He once had the plant from the family Euphorbia appear in his garden. I think it was euphorbia lathyris or caper spurge. He really wanted the seeds so he waited until ripe and then peeled the fruits apart barehanded and collected the seeds. He washed his hands after it several times with soap and then went to pee… which he soon after regretted. He told ne it burns like hell and his noodle was peeling for several days. XD Please use gloves when handling plants like this. The latex this plant produces is very sticky and filled with irritants. In contact with skin ti creates a bad rash or boils. It’s best to avoid these. In germany these plants are called “Wolfsmilch” which translates to Wolves milk.

[@bread9173]

I remember talking with my proff in lab about a study done with people eating oranges and being exposed ro sunlight more often having cancer more often cause of bergapten. It was a small increase but still kinda sucks.

[@TThomas-si7yn]

Wait wait wait... I'm going to stop the video and, at 0:22, say, unequivocally, that the gympie gympie, aka, "The Suicide Plant," will be top DOG (Distinguished Honor Graduate) here. I'm not sure there could be any worse way to go out, than by using its leaves for something other than what nature intended, and end up deciding that it's far better to be dead than to live with gympie gympie stings. Plural.

[@NovemberXXVII]

My pet theory is that Jordan Peterson did something to really tick off plants, like collectively, so they got together and decided that he specifically does not get to eat them. Launched a 1-man The Happening on 'im.

[@jaquan123ism]

growing up english yew shrubs around my neighborhood as landscaping we used to tear off branches and mess with the berries i had no idea it was that toxic

[@mjboudreau2900]

in Gaspe Coast Canada, there was a community succesful effort to erradicate venenous Sumac in the 80.

[@ZA-mb5di]

2:31 pine needle essential oil is also a good analgesic

[@martinivers489]

Very much appreciate the intro. Keeps me engaged and supensed.

[@PaigeWylderOwO]

8:51 -no wonder eating legumes gives me abdominal pain.

[@CarlytheQueenofChaos]

Bro why are cashew apples so damn irritating?

[@meganhammer7857]

I live in a place where cow parsnip is a common sight (and I've never heard of anyone being harmed by it), but giant hogweed is slowly invading, so I'm always paranoid whenever I see any big carrot-type plant. As a kid, stinging nettle was genuinely a phobia of mine. I think it's because my dad warned me strongly against touching it, but didn't explain how badly it would hurt, so I pretty much just assumed I would die instantly. What I've always been told is that you can get rid of the irritation by covering the affected skin with mud, which when it dries will take the plant's stinging hairs out of your skin. Is the chemical answer of using antihistamine more effective or about the same?

[@richardwebb5317]

A trick is often played by younger children - one of the braver ones will pick a nettle and tell their mates that they don't sting during ...... (month, season).

[@whoever6458]

I've gotten capsaicin in my eyes many times because I like spicy foods. I was pretty embarrassed, having taken a good bit of chemistry at that point, when someone told me that if you put the soap on your hands before getting them wet, you are more likely to wash the capsaicin off, since I had found that I'd get it in my eye even though I washed my hands right after cutting up spicy peppers. It does initially really hurt when you get it in your eye and it sucks that you have to close your eye and do a bunch of crying but, after the initial irritation is gone, it's ever so slightly pleasant to have a spicy eyeball. I still wash it off of my hands by using the soap before the water, though, because it's much more enjoyable to sense the spiciness in your mouth than in your eye. Now that I realize that capsaicin acts in a kind of similar way as menthol when it comes to sending a chemical signal of heat as if it was actually hot as menthol does as a chemical signal of cold as if it was actually cold, maybe it is more than just woo woo to avoid eating spicy foods when it's too hot outside. I mean, I have totally been putting menthol into water in a spray bottle as a way to spray myself with said solution so that it will cool me down more. Of course, I eat the capsaicin rather than spray it on my body but this did give me some food for thought. It's not what I need at 3 am but sometimes my best ideas come at 3 am so...

[@0alalune0]

IDK if this is true, but I've heard that in India people eat especially spicy food on hot days because it'll make you sweat and help you cool down.

[@AsymptoteInverse]

I have an eternal grudge against urushiol. In my teens, I was hypersensitive to it for some reason. As Chubbyemu might say, I got it on my hands and also somehow on all the parts between my legs. Bad times. Luckily, my sensitivity to it all but disappeared. It'll still give me a rash, but it's a very mild one.

[@shuckieddarns]

I'm only half a minute in and I gotta say, the commentary on this one has got to be on the wild side (Jordan Peterson reference lol)

[@shuckieddarns]

ah, the ad segment. Perfect segue lmao

[@CLCasual]

Blackberries are not irritating, they taste fantastic easily better than raspberries

[@That_Chemist]

Not the random invasive ones - certain species taste better than others, plus the grocery store cultivars (sometimes can) taste way better

[@kpopalitfonzelitaclide2147]

I used violin rosin fkr soldiring and it works pretty well

[@CarlytheQueenofChaos]

The most irritating part of aconitine is its molecular model bro what the fuck is happening?

[@dadium_69]

Tulipalin A is also the reason for Tulips being toxic to cats

[@Monster_Rancher]

Capsaicin should go in S for spicy.

[@Xeonerable]

Indeed a plant being able to nearly end you is quite irritating indeed! I love your videos and learn things I never knew.

[@TheBackyardChemist]

5:05 missed opportunity to say "brush up against Poison Ivy"

[@lettersnstuff]

dude just skipped all the cool alkaloids in solanaceae. also whatever the hell is in Gympie-Gympie

[@StaraptorEagle]

How about the gympie-gympie plant? It’s said to cause horses to jump off cliffs.

[@TThomas-si7yn]

Hey, TC. I hope you're doing well. Thanks for yet another fun and informative video. I meant to ask that you please consider looking into and presenting your findings about, for example, Irukandji jellyfish venom chemistry (nematocysts inject, which makes it envenomation, right?), and some small idea of what may cause "Irukandji Syndrome." That is a deeply fascinating and unique phenomenon and I'm intensely curious about what you think and how you would rate it. Also, Cone Snail venom; and what the chemistry says about its uses in managing pain, without the addictive properties of the most currently available pain medications. Anyway, just a few questions I have about chemistry. Thank you for your consideration. Have a good one!!

[@dplj4428]

Came across this. Wondered why some people recommended pine oil as an insect repellent. Wondered if breathing is affected.

[@jolioding_2253]

I think you forgot about moroidine which is in the infamous 'gympie gympie'. It causes itching and pain that can last for months, described by scientists as "the worst pain imaginable" or like being burned and having acid on your skin at the same time. it is also chemically pretty stable so even dead leaves after months can still irritate you.

[@diablominero]

Mango skins have urushiol too, but mango allergy is rare.

[@jvwMUSIC]

I'd like to point out that Urushiol the main component of the lacquer used in traditional japanese woodworking. It polymerizes in contact with air so it fills a similar role to walnut, linseed, tung, or safflower oil. People have and continue to work with large quantities of the stuff with limited or no PPE. Some craftsmen apply it with their bare hands.

[@myristicinman4566]

I love how you're graduallyyy ramping up at the education factor. Go TC

[@andreiferariu]

After wiping cow dung off my upper lip with a nettle leaf, I can confirm that it does indeed irritate.

[@andreiferariu]

I remember when I was young my grandparents used to treat Nettle irritation by rubbing dill on the hives - although I have no clue if that was actually effective and based in science or not.

[@inappropriatejohnson]

Ricin seems pretty irritating to me. What with death and all.