A 45 year old man spent two days clearing an overgrown area in the garden of a French villa. He worked in bright sunlight wearing only shorts, vest, gloves, and boots. Two days later he presented to the accident and emergency department with chemical burns (fig 1).
Figure 1.
Chemical burns at three days after exposure to giant hogweed sap
The plant he was handling was Heracleum mantegazzianum, better known as the giant hogweed (fig 2), whose sap contains furanocoumarin, which renders the skin photosensitive. In this case, exposure resulted in partial-thickness burns, which were successfully treated conservatively with topical ointments leaving minimal residual scarring. Although increasingly rare in Britain, giant hogweed is commonly found on the continent.
Figure 2.
Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)