What stones are dangerous for humans?

When buying jewelry, we rarely think about the fact that it can be deadly. Indeed, what could be hidden in a transparent crystal or gold chain? It’s radiation! She cannot be seen, heard, felt, but she is capable of killing slowly and mercilessly. And modern stone processing technologies greatly contribute to this. The professional dosimeter-radiometer MKS-01SA1M (MKS-M) can help determine the level of radiation in jewelry.

Refining stones in nuclear reactors

The radioactive method of refining precious and semi-precious stones is currently very popular. It is carried out by irradiating minerals in a nuclear reactor fueled by uranium or plutonium. This processing method is usually hidden from the consumer, despite the fact that it is very dangerous to human health. The stones obtained as a result of such “processing” in the reactor are too expensive. They acquire an unusual bright color and look incredibly beautiful, which is why they are more expensive than their environmentally friendly counterparts. If you are very lucky, they will casually tell you that the mineral has been irradiated, but you are unlikely to pay any attention to this, and the seller may not know all the intricacies of processing. By wearing jewelry with stones treated with radiation every day, you are putting your health at great risk. After nuclear treatment, this piece of diamond would be worth millions of dollars due to its absolute clarity and extraordinary brilliance. As a rule, agates, carnelians, diamonds, topazes, tourmalines, a number of beryls and other minerals are exposed to radioactive irradiation. One of the signs of irradiation is an unusual, fascinating, too bright or uncharacteristic color for the mineral, but this does not always happen. The radioactivity of irradiated stones is always higher than the natural background radiation. That is why many “traditional healers” attribute magical properties to them, recommending the treatment of many diseases. However, being a weak source of radiation, such jewelry can only cause harm. As a rule, the irradiation process occurs completely uncontrollably in nuclear reactors in third world countries. No one cares whether radioactive elements or unstable particles remain in the stone, or in what quantity they got inside. With such processing, no one checks the safety of minerals for human health. Indeed, nuclear upgrading brings in a lot of money! The photo below shows a sample of agate from South America. Judging by the peculiarities of the coloring, it was X-ray irradiation and bombardment with elementary particles that gave it its beautiful iridescence. This method can add interesting color to even faded and colorless stones. The pursuit of huge profits often leads to violations of mineral irradiation technology; moreover, in many countries there is simply no control over such products. However, given the scale of smuggling, there is no need to say that customs barriers can protect Russians from radioactive stones. Specialists at www.dozimetr.biz warn: sellers will never indicate this most dangerous method of processing stones either on the label or in the certificate. Agate pendant from South America, processed in a nuclear reactor What can such decorations lead to? Radioactive carnelian or agate, even very beautiful ones, playing with all the colors of the rainbow, worn as a pendant, can cause breast or skin cancer, malignant degeneration of birthmarks and moles into sarcoma. Plain agate or tinted with ordinary dyes is safe.

High natural radiation level of the stone

Danger can arise from wearing on your chest a radioactive piece of granite or basalt, as well as any mineral mined near rocks containing uranium, layers with a high radioactive background, near nuclear waste burial sites, etc., and such places on earth, to unfortunately, quite a lot. Heavy radioactive elements are often found in ornamental stones such as charoite, evidalite, and some Ural gems. Celestite (pale blue crystal) is a strontium salt that is always radioactive. The half-life of strontium is about 1500 years. Pieces of radioactive minerals can be found not only in jewelry; they are often found in ordinary crushed stone, which is sprinkled on paths, streets, and railway embankments. They are, of course, safe there, but if they end up in your yard or within the walls of your house in large quantities, they can cause radiation sickness. This is why you should always check the safety of minerals using a household portable dosimeter. Many crystals have high natural levels of radioactivity and should not be used in jewelry.

Gold and stones from Chernobyl

In addition to the illegal irradiation of stones, scandals about radioactive gold and jewelry periodically flare up in the jewelry industry. When a nuclear reactor exploded in Chernobyl, the population within a radius of more than 30 km was hastily evacuated. People took with them the most expensive things: gold and jewelry. Due to safety regulations, everything that was taken out of the danger zone had to be destroyed, but it is reliably known that many gold, silver jewelry and stones contaminated with radiation were “dispersed” to resellers and ended up in the boxes of residents of the Soviet Union. Many of the jewelry were melted down, which is quite often used in the jewelry industry, so no one knows for sure how many tons of radioactive gold and stones are moving around the country. If you have jewelry that you inherited from your mother or grandmother, we strongly recommend checking it with a portable dosimeter. Many decorations from Chernobyl were not destroyed, as required by the instructions, and still lie in the boxes of unsuspecting citizens.

X-ray treatment of stones

Another popular method of refining stones is X-ray radiation. This method is known and widely used in the CIS countries. It is more affordable than using a nuclear reactor, but X-rays can also make the stone radioactive. Unfortunately, this process of refining minerals is also carried out uncontrollably. You should pay attention to too dark or saturated blue topazes, too violet amethysts. Most likely, they have been x-rayed, and it is better to refrain from purchasing them. Since purchasing jewelry is so dangerous, maybe it’s better to give it up altogether? This is not necessary, just buy a radiation dosimeter for household use, and the problem will be solved by itself. A small device that fits even in a handbag, you can take it to the store. In just a few seconds, the radiometer will notify you whether this jewelry is safe or not. By the way, in addition to the jewelry store, the dosimeter will find work in other parts of your home, in the garden, at work, because there can be so many dangerous sources of radiation around. These stones can cause serious harm to health even if they are simply beautiful on a shelf as an interior decoration or a sample from a collection. So, from least dangerous to most dangerous.

• 10. Chalcanthite – ancient Greek. – copper and other Greek. – flower.

The seductive blue chalcanthite crystals are composed of copper, combined with sulfur and other elements, as well as water. This formulation transforms copper, which is essential for the body but which becomes toxic in excess quantities, into a highly bio-available crystal. In other words, copper becomes water soluble and can be absorbed in large quantities by any plant or animal, quickly weakening it and then killing it as important internal organs stop working.

Scientific amateurs should never test chalcanthite for salt content because they may suffer an extremely serious overdose of copper. Simply mining a crystal of this blue mineral killed all the algae in the entire pond, and these crystals are also capable of creating major environmental problems. Due to the incredible beauty and rarity of chalcanthite, a business has emerged within the geological community to grow artificial crystals for sale that are advertised as genuine specimens.

• 9. Coloradoite – named after the piece. Colorado, USA

Coloradoite is a newly discovered crystalline mineral typically found in magma veins. This mineral is a mercuric telluride compound formed when mercury is alloyed with tellurium, another extremely toxic and rare metal. Therefore, Coloradoite poses a double toxic threat to those who dare to pick it up. The combination of these two elements creates a risk of serious poisoning if handled carelessly. When heated or chemically changed, this strange mineral releases deadly vapor and dust.

What’s most interesting is that this mineral is mined to obtain the tellurium it contains. Tellurium minerals can also be found in combination with gold, but such combinations were not previously known. In a strange twist of fate, Coloradoite deposits were mined in Australia during an unusual gold rush after people realized that tellurium stones containing gold were filling potholes in the roads.

• 8. Hutchinsonite – named after Hutchinson.

Thallium is lead’s darker counterpart. This dense, fatty metal is similar in atomic mass to lead, but is even more deadly. Thallium is a rare metal that appears in highly toxic compounds consisting of rather strange combinations of elements. The effects of thallium exposure are even stranger, and include hair loss, serious illness upon skin contact, and in many cases death.

Hutchinsonite is a dangerous but striking mixture of thallium, lead and arsenic. Three toxic metals form a deadly cocktail of minerals that must be handled with great care. Hutchinsonite was named after John Hutchinson, a famous mineralogist at the University of Cambridge. This mineral can be found in mountainous areas of Europe, most often in ore deposits.

• 7. Galena (Galena) – (from Latin galena – lead ore)

Galena is the main ore used for lead mining. It consists of shiny silver cubes of unnaturally perfect shape. Although lead is generally very flexible, galena’s sulfur content makes it extremely brittle and susceptible to chemical treatment. Galena can cause serious consequences for workers and amateur researchers who work with it without following safety precautions.

Handling samples may result in inhalation of dust. Workers in mines are at high risk of poisoning from contact with minerals and deadly dust generated during production. Once mined, lead from this mineral poses an environmental threat to human health during processing and purification. Galena has a cubic fracture process, and if you hit it with a hammer, the crystal will break into several smaller copies of its original shape.

6. Asbestos – (Greek – indestructible)

Chrysotile and Amphibolite

Asbestos is not a man-made product, but it is one of the most dangerous minerals on the planet. While other minerals act as toxins due to their chemical composition and accidentally poison victims, asbestos carries out full mechanical sabotage in the human lungs. Asbestos is a completely natural mineral and is composed of silica, the most abundant solid mineral on Earth, iron, sodium and oxygen.

Asbestos deposits are made up of clusters of thousands of tiny, thread-like crystals that can become airborne. They can also easily enter a person’s lungs. Carcinogenic effects occur due to constant irritation of the lung tissue, which leads to the formation of scars. Asbestos formations can be found among any set of siliceous rocks, therefore, during the study of such rocks, appropriate safety rules must be followed. Oddly enough, natural weathering leads to the spread of natural asbestos into the Earth’s atmosphere. As a result, small amounts of asbestos fibers can be found in the lungs of many people.

• 5. Arsenopyrite – (from the Latin arsenicum – arsenic)

Arsenopyrite is fool’s gold, but with a slight difference. A person who confuses it with gold will be more than just a fool. An equally stupid decision would be to pick up this mineral from the ground during a hike through the quarry, and then continue to use the hands that held this mineral to prepare and consume food. Arsenopyrite is an iron-arsenic sulfide that is the same type of mineral as pyrite (fool’s gold or iron sulfide), the difference being that it has heavy additions of arsenic.

When you try to heat or alter the mineral in any way, it begins to emit a strong garlicky odor of arsenic, which comes from the deadly toxic, corrosive and carcinogenic fumes released by this mineral. Even processing this mineral puts a person in contact with unstable sulfur salts of arsenic. Interestingly, arsenopyrite can be identified by simply hitting it with a hammer. Once the sparks fly, you will be able to smell a strong garlicky odor for a brief moment.

• 4. Torbernite – named after the Swedish chemist and mineralogist Torbern Bergman

Torburnite is a mineral from hell. Green prism-shaped crystals form as secondary deposits in granite rocks and are composed of uranium. Formed through a complex reaction between phosphorus, copper, water and uranium, the stunning clusters of crystals often lured collectors with their appearance, so people took samples of these minerals for their collections displayed on shelves.

If the decay of uranium at Chernobyl wasn’t enough, the deadly gas radon, capable of causing lung cancer, is slowly leaking out of these beautiful rocks. This is exactly the kind of crystal that should be left alone. Torbernite can also be found in granite, so your granite countertop could easily contain traces of torbernite. The bright green clusters of crystals are used by prospectors as indicators of uranium deposits.

Stibnite is an antimony sulfide, but it looks like silver. For this reason, huge, shiny metallic crystals of this unstable compound were once used to cast magnificent glassware. However, the sword-shaped crystals brought death to all those who used them. Antimony-laced stibnite crystals killed many people before it became known that the mineral caused one of the world’s worst food poisonings.

Even if stibnite samples are collected for collection, they must be handled with great care to avoid poisoning. It is recommended to wash your hands after any contact with this mineral. The mines near Osaka, Japan produce the best stibnite crystals in the world, measuring up to 30 centimeters in length. Most stibnite specimens look like miniature spiers.

• 2. Orpiment – ​​(from Latin aurum – gold, gold paint)

The only thing worse than arsenic itself is a stone consisting of arsenic and sulfur. Lethal and reactive orpiment crystals grow underground as mineral formations, often near hydrothermal vents. The colors of orpiment look quite enticing, but if you hold its crystals in your hands, it can release carcinogenic, neurotoxic arsenic powder.

The Chinese widely used this mineral, just like cinnabar, but only with much more dire consequences. Arrows were dropped into crushed samples of this stone, which were then used against enemies for the purpose of poisoning – a rather skillful way of throwing a stone. Orpiment is famous for giving off a strong garlic smell due to its arsenic content. It can also crumble into a dangerous powder when exposed to light. This mineral was used as a major ingredient in ocher paint, and likely poisoned many of the artists who used it.

• 1. Cinnabar – (Greek kinnabari)

Cinnabar (mercury sulfide) is the most toxic mineral to process that exists on Earth. The name of the crystal means “dragon’s blood.” It is from cinnabar ore that mercury is extracted. Bright red crystals formed near volcanoes and sulfur deposits signal the worst danger. Cinnabar can release pure mercury when processed or heated, causing convulsions, loss of sensation, and death.

During the Middle Ages and late 1700s, being sent to work in Spanish mines containing cinnabar formations was considered practically a death sentence. Cinnabar was widely used in Chinese history to make decorative dishes for food, and pieces of it were also used to create intricately shaped carvings, sometimes at the cost of the lives of artisans. What’s even more incredible is that some of the ancient doctors believed that cinnabar contained healing properties and prescribed it to treat certain diseases.

These are the horrors of Saturday 🙂