Now first off, I know lead isn't safe, lead poisoning, etc... But thought it may be interesting to some nevertheless. I worked on a farm and ranch. Poison Ivy was pretty common around. An old farmer used to wear a watch with a smashed down catfish weight around it. Asked him what that was about. He said the lead being in contact with your skin makes you immune to poison ivy. I am very sensitive to poison ivy, first sign of it, I'm at the Dr's office asking for a shot. I've had it bad, and worse. I was about 20 and figured I'd try it. It wasn't long before I wasn't getting any reaction from PI. I had that weight for a couple years on my watch. It broke, I didn't replace the weight on the next one. And sure enough, a couple months later I got PI again. Started getting it like I did before. But for those couple of years I had that lead weight on my arm, I never once had a single reaction even when I rubbed it on my arms.

I wouldn't have believed it had I not had my own experience with it. But just thought I'd share that. That was about 20 years ago. I just try to stay away from it rather than risk the lead issues today!