Toxicology of Poinsettia

Abstract

1. The acute oral LD50 of poinsettia in Sprague Dawley rats were greater than 25 gm/kg for all plant parts tested. 2. Exaggerated oral dosing over a five-day period with as much as 125 gm/kg total dose did not produce any gross or microscopic pathology in Sprague Dawley rats. 3. A five-day total diet study of poinsettia produced no gross pathology in Sprague Dawley rats. 4. Poinsettia latex induced no local toxicity when instilled into the buccal cavity of Sprague Dawley rats. 5. Poinsettia latex induced no damage when instilled into the eyes of albino rabbits. 6. Upon repeated exposures poinsettia exhibited mild skin irritation in the albino rabbit. It is not considered to be a primary irritant. 7. Poinsettia induced skin photosensitivity in albino rabbits.

Holiday Plants with Toxic Misconceptions

“…The same study could find local irritation/inflammation on repeated instillation into the buccal cavity of rats and the eyes of rabbits. There was some minor skin irritation with repeated exposure in rabbits 10. These findings are echoed in other studies 11,12…”

Euphorbiaceae Juss.

“…Native to Eurasia and introduced into North America in the 1820s, it spread widely across the Disease Problems-The irritant properties of the milky sap of Euphorbia and their association with disease are well recognized. Poinsettia is probably one of the less toxic species of Euphorbia (Stone and Collins 1971;Winek et al 1978;Mitchell and Rook 1979;Runyon 1980;Spoerke and Smolinske 1990). In a few instances a decoction of the roots when chewed for medicinal purposes has caused very individual species can be accessed online via the PLANTS Database ( http://www.plants.usda.gov ).…”