Posted on 12/15/2024 9:55:41 PM PST by tsomer
A Yuletide greeting/warning/ query to Freepers!
We bought a Christmas Tree, a Frazier Spruce at a nursery in Pennsylvania North of Philadelphia. The trees were nice and symetric and full.
We got it home and stood it up and my wife noticed it had an uncharacteristic smell--not like spruce, but like a chemical. This morning our Shiba Inu was trembling. Then she became lethargic. Her nose was warm. We wondered if it was the tree. A friend of ours came over and confirmed my wife's suspicion about the smell. I took the tree outside and the stand/basin as well. The dog has improved noticeably.
I think the trees were brought in from West of here along the Appalachians, maybe North Carolina. Does anyone know what kinds of crap tree farmers are using on these trees? Or could there be fungi of some sort?
Chem trail residue.
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/spruce-spider-mite-on-fraser-fir
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/pyrethrin-pyrethroid-poisoning-in-dogs
pyrethroids?
Fraser fir is on the high end of valuable Christmas trees.
The Toxic Truth About Your Christmas Tree
https://www.wired.com/story/christmas-tree-toxic-truth-pollution-pesticide/
Might be some kind of flame retardant.
Making the indoor family tree less likely to burst into flames when wrapped up in those warm Xmas lights.
It may have been a department of agriculture treatment
Michigan had a problem with pines being cut on the expressways for Christmas Trees. The trees were later
sprayed with a chemical that gave off an unpleasant smell. The pine thefts stopped.
My wife and I are completely surrounded by tall fir trees. Approximately 25% of the fir trees in our area are dead or dying because of an ongoing bark beetle infestation. King County is controlled by greenies in Seattle who desire and demand that all pesticides be banned for forestry uses in this area.
I don’t know what stunk up your tree. At the concentration levels and degradation rates used with chemicals that control pests that kill trees there is almost no chance that you would be able to smell any of the commonly used compounds. For 8 years before I became a Hazmat Officer for a Big City Fire Department, I worked in the lumber business.
It is most likely that your tree was exposed to diesel smoke from the trucks that transported them to market. The additives now used in diesel fuels for “pollution” control make the exhaust smell much stronger and more disgusting and “chemical like” than ever before.
Got a tree, back in the day, covered with dust. Mount St. Helens.
“greenies in Seattle”
I had not seen an NFL football game segment in years, until yesterday.
I did not recognize the team wearing the road maintenance color: “greenie PJs”.
Typical fear-mongering masquerading as journalism. What the author knows about that topic couldn’t fill a thimble.
My uncle owned a Christmas tree farm up in Maine many years ago. I worked there during Christmas time and we’d start cutting trees in late October to ship around the states.
Never used pesticides that I was aware of and I was there a lot. Did a ton of pruning and mowing between the rows. Retail sellers on the other hand would use whatever on them to help keep the needles on or make some greener.
When I got stationed in Guam in 82 my parents shipped the wife and I a Christmas tree from the farm. USPS driver who delivered it said he’d never.seen a real Christmas tree and delivered late that day because he loved the smell!!
Wonderful story
We got a live tree one year and our son had an allergic reaction to it. By morning his eyes were almost swollen shut. I stuck the tree outside and he was better the next day. He’d been around live conifers outdoors and never had an issue.
Sprayed to kill bugs?
Sprayed to keep them green?
The tree stayed green for months after I put it outside and this was in FL where it’s not very cold.
I have seen live trees that are treated with a green dye to increase longevity.
Any pesticide used correctly would not be a problem.
Take it back and ask the nursery owner about it. Cutting our own tree was a family tradition, until we realized all the molds etc we were bringing into the nice warm house, making the living room sickness incubator.
Never heard of anything impacting the family so fast
Trees brought in from a long distance may be sprayed with a dye to prolong their color. I saw this a few years ago on a tree from Michigan.
I am allergic to molds that commonly grow on Christmas trees. As a kid I was sick every year at Christmas time. Never had a clue, until I was diagnosed as an adult, and the mold allergy was very strong.
I love the scent of real trees, but having them inside my house isn’t good for me. We have a fake tree now. I wish it weren’t so, but it’s one place where I’ve had to give in.
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