What kind of toxic posions are released by the prickly pear catus's needles?

When my 2 year old cousin fell into my cactus i picked him up and in turn got my arm full of needles. His mother, my other cousin, and I held him down and got them all out of him but my arm still had the needles in it. My arm had red spots where the needles where at, even before i pulled them out. They are full of some kind of toxins but i dont know what, or how strong they are or anything about them. Any advice?
What kind of toxic posions are released by the prickly pear catus's needles?
the spines don't contain toxins at all-the reaction was probably from the spines themselves-there are also small fine spines in small clusters on some prickle pears (opuntia) that look like hair called 'glochids' that are a real pain when you get them in your skin-it's hard to see at first that they are there because they are so fine and just brushing your hand against them can over your hand in them-i usually use packing tape to pull them out. for the bigger needles try pulling them out gently to not break them and using an antiseptic is good too because infections are possible from bacteria that might have been on the spine although i've never gotten an infections from the many spines that have pricked me:)
Reply:I don't think prickly pears actually have toxins per se. They do contain relatively high concentrations of oxalic acid in the stem, but this is only toxic at much higher concentrations. People eat foods containing high concentrations of oxalic acid all the time, spinach for instance. You may have gotten some of the plant's juices in you, but while it may have caused some irritation or an allergic reaction I don't think it qualifies as "toxic". Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the tips of the spines broke off inside of you, so the irritation might persist even after you pull them out. Don't worry though, your body can break down anything like that, eventually. I did find a good website, so maybe that can help more.
PDA

pimple