4 December 2023
Misleading

Misleading: Giant hogweed seeds are not immediately dangerous and there’s no evidence mysterious mail from China contains them

There is no verifiable report of unsolicited packages from China containing giant hogweed seeds.

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A tweet including an image of a swollen hand, alleged to be the consequence of touching giant hogweed seeds.
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A tweet stating that the seeds of giant hogweed were sent to Japan.
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Photo of a bloated hand found on Wikipedia, captioned “a severe case of phytophotodermatitis.” (Source: Wikipedia)
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Photos of a bloated hand uploaded on Wikipedia in 2015. The caption reads: “Phytophotodermatitis from exposure to lime juice.” (Source: Wikipedia)