Jack o’lantern mushrooms by Jason Hollinger, Creative Commons

In time for Halloween, jack o’lantern mushrooms are starting to show their faces. We had a call related to this mushroom last week, and they are common from July to October.

Eating a jack o’lantern won’t kill you, but it can leave you very sick, with some of the worst throwing up, stomach cramps or diarrhea you can imagine.

People sometimes eat jack o’lanterns thinking they are chanterelles, which are edible. The two types of mushroom can look pretty similar, and they bloom at the same time. Jack o’lanterns grow in large groups from a single base or stem (as in the picture), whereas chanterelles each have their own stem. In addition, jack o’lanterns have “gills” underneath the head, while chanterelles have ridges or folds.

These differences can be hard to tell. Remember, to avoid mushroom poisonings, only eat wild mushrooms that have been identified by someone with expert training.

If you think someone has eaten a poisonous mushroom, call the poison center at 1-800-222-1222, or chat with a poison specialist online.

Photo by Jason Coleman, Creative Commons

When was the last time you had your furnace checked?

It’s getting to be that time when folks in northern New England are turning on their heating systems. Remember that furnaces and other equipment that burn fuel can put carbon monoxide into your home if they aren’t working properly.

Carbon monoxide is a dangerous gas that in severe cases can kill you. You can’t see carbon monoxide, and it has no smell, so the only way to know if it’s in your home is with a working carbon monoxide alarm.

Before you turn on your furnace, consider having it checked by a heating service technician.

Test the batteries in your carbon monoxide alarm, and if you don’t have one, visit your local hardware store to pick one up. Place a carbon monoxide alarm near each sleeping area in your home, and have at least one on each floor.

Pigskin Poison Puffball Photo by Eric Steinert, Creative Commons 3.0

In the last week, the NNEPC has seen a few cases of people eating a mushroom called the pigskin poison puffball (scleroderma citrinum). As you might guess from the name, this mushroom won’t agree with your stomach, and eating some could leave you throwing up for quite awhile.

There are lots of these pigskin poison puffballs out right now. They are usually 1-4 inches wide and 1 or 2 inches tall and yellowish brown with rough warts on the outside. The spores inside are typically a deep black or purplish black, as in the picture here, but they can also be a lighter gray or brown.

The pigskin poison puffball is sometimes taken for an edible puffball or mistaken with a truffle.

To avoid mushroom poisonings, only eat wild mushrooms if they have been identified by a trained mushroom expert.

Medicinal marijuana is increasingly available in Northern New England, meaning the drug can be found in more and more homes. Like any other substance, if marijuana is available in the home, young children may be able to get into it.

Marijuana can have serious effects in kids. An amount that might cause very small effects in an adult can create a much stronger reaction in a young child.

Edible marijuana—like brownies, cookies and candy—can be an especially big problem. Kids don’t know the difference between a marijuana brownie and a regular brownie, and they may eat more than one, giving them an even bigger dose.

Fortunately, most children who get into marijuana do not have serious effects—typically they become very drowsy and their pupils get large.

But in other cases, children can become so drowsy that you cannot wake them up. In very rare situations, children have briefly gone into a coma—they could not be woken up and had trouble breathing.

All children who swallow marijuana need to be watched at a hospital.

For more information on marijuana, call the Northern New England Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222 or chat online.