Myth Debunked: Poinsettias Are NOT Poisonous

For over 90 years, rumors and myths have had us believing that one of our favorite December flowers was poisonous. We grew up thinking that it was dangerous to have a poinsettia plant in the house, especially when children were present. The incident that started this phobia was the death of a two year old in Hawaii in 1919. It was thought that he may have ingested part of a poinsettia plant. No one was sure if the child actually ingested part of a poinsettia.

The Society of American Florists and Ohio State University researchers put this myth to the test. The Buckeye myth-busters first studied the toxic effects of poinsettia plants way back in the 1970s. At that time, they whizzed up different parts of poinsettia plants in a blender and fed the results to 55 rats. The rats displayed no ill-effects. The researchers gave the rats very large amounts of the plant, and they recorded zero mortality, no symptoms of poisoning, no behavioral changes, and no changes in appetite. The Consumer Product Safety Commission used the work at Ohio State as the basis for its decision to deny warning label requirements for poinsettia plants in 1975. The American Medical Journal's Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants does not list poinsettias as having any effect other than occasional cases of vomiting, which would be caused by ingesting any non-food plant. Ron Wolford, Unit Educator, Urban Horticulture and Environment at University of Illinois Extension Services put together poinsettia information here.

The Ohio State research was almost 40 years ago, yet the warnings about poinsettias continue. The National Poison Control Center in Washington, D.C. lists poinsettias as non-poisonous plants. One evaluation of toxicity says that a 50 pound child would have to eat 500 to 600 poinsettia leaves to feel any ill-effect. For comparison, a typical poinsettia plant in an eight-inch pot with three flowering bracts has an average of 40 to 60 leaves. Read more here.

Poinsettia plants do contain white sap that can be a skin irritant for some people, however. The sap is similar to rubber tree sap, so if your skin reacts to latex, poinsettia sap might also cause a reaction. If you have a latex allergy and you get poinsettia sap on your hands, wash them with warm water and soap, and you should be fine. If the plant juice happens to get in your eye, as a result of rubbing hand to eye, rinse your eye with tepid water for 10 to 15 minutes.

And if you happen to have a pet who grazes your houseplants, poinsettia sap may irritate the animal's mouth.

Caution: Some holiday plants truly ARE poisonous, including mistletoe, holly, and English ivy.

University of Illinois Extension, http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/faq.cfmhttp://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2009/Dec/GW/ar_GW_122209.asp?d=122209,2009,Dec,22&c=c_10
UI site developed by Ron Wolford. http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/credits.cfm
Web MD, http://www.webmd.com/news/19991224/keeping-holidays-safe-hidden-poisons
Rabbit.org, pet dangers, http://www.rabbit.org/care/poinsettia.html