fields of rapeseed - effect on health

[hazeyjane]

does anyone know if hay fever caused by rapeseed is very specific in severity, or whether there are any adverse reactions to health caused by rapeseed that aren't hay fever??

I've had hayfever for at least 40 years.

Some years are better than others. This seems to be a bad year.

Some plants are better than others. Mostly I get itchy eyes and scalp and inner ears, and my nose runs like a tap. Certain plants (privet, for example,) make me very wheezy as well.

Rape is a bit different - it gives me a nauseous sort of headache, and makes me feel really ill. Not the same as normal hayfever. The first time I experienced this was when I was about nine and we were going to see a friend of Dad's in Lincolnshire. I'd never seen it before, and then there were all these fields of vibrant yellow. And soon after, I felt like I wanted to die quietly in the corner.

I am glad my father (a farmer) refused ever to grow it. Don't think that I was a major factor in that, though.