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Author Topic: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it  (Read 32906 times)

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Debbie K

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #15 on: March 03, 2017, 06:03:32 AM »

Mother of pearl and abalone shells; the dust is supposed to be really bad for you.

Debbie K
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fossilman

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #16 on: March 03, 2017, 07:07:44 PM »

Run a sealer on the material,it will be safe than.....
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God,family and life!!

Ranger_Dave

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #17 on: March 03, 2017, 09:08:21 PM »

I have some Andersonite. I don't think I'll be wearing it as a necklace. Fluoresces enthusiastically though.
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Debbie K

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #18 on: March 30, 2017, 09:12:53 AM »

I totally forgot to add some important ones: Some "London Blue" topaz. Some of it was so irradiated to get the blue color that it's still "hot", and this is true for both the rough and cut stones.

The other is cinnabar, which I understand is never safe to handle due to the mercury leaching.

Debbie K
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ileney

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #19 on: March 31, 2017, 08:40:56 PM »

There is an awful lot of blue topaz out there. How would one identify which is hot? I have jewelry made with it ( it's my son's birthstone) and also have some faceted stones purchased from gem shows and jtv. Were stones from a particular time period suspect?
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #20 on: March 31, 2017, 09:15:13 PM »

The only way I know of is a Geiger Counter.
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Robin

Kaljaia

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #21 on: March 31, 2017, 10:45:45 PM »

Does anyone know of good resources for identifying cinnabar from among all the other reds? There's two cinnabar mines in my "back yard" that produced a lot of mercury 40 years ago, but I have never known what the local species looked like (only that the fish downstream still test too high to eat.)
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- Erika

I rock hunt in the Antelope/Ashwood area of the John Day river basin in Oregon.

hummingbirdstones

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #22 on: April 01, 2017, 06:58:17 AM »

I don't know if this will help you out or not:  http://www.minerals.net/mineral/cinnabar.aspx
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Robin

Debbie K

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #23 on: April 01, 2017, 03:15:29 PM »

Re: the topaz, the older stuff was much more irradiated than the newer stuff is. Hummingbirdstones is right; the geiger is the best way to see if they're really hot.

Re: the cinnabar, it has a specific gravity of 8.09, so I'd avoid any red rock that's really heavy. That's just me.

Debbie K
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ileney

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #24 on: April 03, 2017, 06:39:20 AM »

Hmmm... I don't know anyone with a Geiger counter.
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hummingbirdstones

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #25 on: April 03, 2017, 07:45:05 AM »

If you have a college around you, you may be able to take it to the geology department.  They usually have one.  Also, maybe a jeweler in your area may have one.
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Robin

Greg Hiller

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #26 on: April 03, 2017, 08:56:41 AM »

>My own rules also include mask and gloves when working on anything that came from living being such as dinosaur bone, horn, seashells, petrified anything, fossil anything<

From the 'living' standpoint I disagree on this with the exception of seashells I suppose.  These are all sooooo old (like millions of years) there is essentially no risk for biological contamination of any kind (meaning you are not going to acquire some type of bacterial or viral infection from any of these). 
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Always interested in trading slabs and rough

mirkaba

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #27 on: April 03, 2017, 09:24:25 AM »

>My own rules also include mask and gloves when working on anything that came from living being such as dinosaur bone, horn, seashells, petrified anything, fossil anything<

From the 'living' standpoint I disagree on this with the exception of seashells I suppose.  These are all sooooo old (like millions of years) there is essentially no risk for biological contamination of any kind (meaning you are not going to acquire some type of bacterial or viral infection from any of these).

I dumped all of the grindings from Coprolite and Dino Bone on my tomatoes last year. Each plant set 1 giant tomato and bunches of very small ones............ ;)
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peruano

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #28 on: April 03, 2017, 05:04:05 PM »

I tried to research the basis of toxicity of shells for personal reasons and came up with an astonishing blank for real data.  There is a possibility that this is one of the great urban myths of our field.  No you don't want to breath silica dust or even carbonate dusts, but toxic is a different thing.  The Native Americans worked with red corals and shells for centuries and you would think that hard evidence of problems would exist if the problem was real.  Many (nearly all cite shell as toxic or hazardous, but show me something more than the statement.  I'm much more sensitive to hazards from toxic or irritating minerals than I am to hazards of shells.  JMH perspective. 
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Combining a love of bikes (pedal and otherwise) with hiking, hounding, lapidary, and the great outdoors

hummingbirdstones

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Re: Poisonous(toxic) rock and wearing it
« Reply #29 on: April 03, 2017, 05:47:57 PM »

I think that the toxicity of shells is about breathing in the silica dust.  Obviously not in one sitting, but over time.  Silicosis is a very real and very nasty disease and any preventive action you can take while working shells is a smart move.   :icon_sunny:
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Robin
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