The Sarcastic Geologist

gorgeousgeology

Welcome to the official Gorgeous Geology’s Guide to Things Not To Put Up Yourself. This guide will help you find minerals that could kill you if you enjoy them a little too much!

Precious minerals are used in everything from circuit boards to tableware. They’re also some of the most toxic materials known to science, and excavating them has proved so dangerous over the years, some have been phased out of industrial production altogether. Listed below are a handful of toxic or deadly minerals on earth.

Actinolite - May contain asbestos.

Adamite - Contains arsenic and some copper

Bixbite

Emerald

Erionite - It looks a lot like asbestos minerals and harms humans much in the same way: mesothelioma.

Chalcanthite - Not something to be played with as it’s hydrated copper sulphate. It is water soluble and will crystallise out again from solution. The copper in this mineral is very bio-available and is toxic to plants and in high quantities toxic to humans.

Aquamarine

Goshenite

Bumble Bee Jasper - Contains Sulphur and Arsenic

Heliodor -

Morganite

Hutchinsonite - Is a sulfosalt mineral of thallium, arsenic and lead. A nasty mix of poisons, particularly thallium as it can cause hair loss, serious illness and death.

Black Tourmaline

Boji-stones - Contains some sulphur, pyrite and/or marcasite

Celestite - Contains strontium

Chalcopyrite (peacock stone) Contains copper and sulphur

Chrysocolla

Cinnabar - This is the single most toxic mineral to handle on earth. It is the world’s main source of mercury and has been mined since Neolithic times. However, when oxidized, this element will produce methyl mercury and dimethyl mercury, two toxic compounds that cause irreparable harm to the nervous systems of children. It is deadly in small concentrations and can be absorbed through the respiratory tract, intestines, or skin.

Conicalcite

Fluorite - Contains fluorine

Gem Silica

Galena - Contains lead which doesn’t get flushed out of your system. It accumulates over the years, eventually reaching toxic levels. Once that happens both you and your kids pay the price, as lead toxicity is carcinogenic to you and is teratogenic (causing severe birth defects) to your offspring.

Garnierite (aka Falcondoite) - Contains nickel

Lapis Lazuli - Contains pyrite

Malachite :

Markasite

Mohawkite - Contains copper and Arsenic

Moldavite - Contains aluminium oxide

Moonstone

Asbestos

Morganite

Pietersite - Fibrous form contains asbestos

Prehnite

Psiomelan - Contains barium

Pyrite - Contains sulphur

Realgar - Contains sulphur and arsenic

Ruby

Sapphire

Selenite - Contains Selenium

Serpentine - Fibrous form contains asbestos

Smithsonite

Sodalite

Spinel

Spodumene (aka Kunzite)

Staurolite

Stibnite - Contains lead and antimony

Stilbite

Sugilite -

Sulphur

Sunstone

Tanzanite – Gem variety of Zoisite.

Tiger Eye - Fibrous form contains asbestos

Topaz

Tourmaline

Torbernite - This mineral is radioactive and emits the cancer forming radon gas. This is one mineral you do not want on your display cabinet shelf, let alone up yourself.

Tremolite - May contain asbestos

Turquoise

Vanadinite - Contains vanadium

Variscite -

Vesuvianite

Wavellite

Wulfenite - Contains lead and molybdenum

Zoisite

Zircon - Contains zirconium, radioactive

For additional radioactivity concerns steer clear of the following:

Deeply pigmented topaz, artificially dark (almost black) smokey quartz, very deep pink or red tourmaline, coloured diamonds, deeply coloured kunzite and some cultured pearls

senor-cat

You people actually think people fuck rocks

queensimia

yeah

just a li’l bit

orgasmictipsforgirls

important facts, memorable rhymes

(see previously)

lilmswitch

My dumbass thought these were vegetables

aroguexenolith

Ok I’m just gonna. Yeah a lot of this isn’t correct.

Please stop defaming these innocent minerals.

I’m really hoping that if a minerals has nothing typed out beside them it means, in the context of this post, that it’s considered non-toxic? Because wow I don’t want to type up all the ways that’s wrong.

Pretty much anything used in jewelry is safe. They’re used in jewelry specifically because they’re non-reactive. That would be: emerald (beryl), ruby (corundum), sapphire (corundum), morganite (beryl), aquamarine (beryl), goshenite (beryl), turquoise, spinel, tourmaline, and topaz. These poor minerals did nothing wrong.

But I gotta give special attention to just a few of the more spectacular fuck-ups:

Gem silica. Are you fucking kidding me? This is quartz. This is quartz. If you think SiO2 is gonna kill you, stay away from beaches (sand is quartz), and don’t use anything glass, ever (glass is amorphous SiO2). If you listen closely, you can hear me facepalming thousands of miles away.

Moonstone. Moonstone can be a number of closely-related minerals intergrown in such a way that they produce a schiller effect (special shiny moonstone thing). These minerals are called feldspars. There are a lot of them. A LOT OF THEM. There is no escape. Pick up almost any igneous or metamorphic rock and oh hey look, there’s some feldspars. This is all to say, moonstone won’t kill you unless you brain yourself with it.

Zircon. Oh noooo you did not. Zircon is a very special mineral in geology. You think diamonds are forever? Nope. Zircons are forever. We’ve found zircons more than 4 billion years old! They are invaluable for both their hardiness as well as the particulars of their crystal structure which allow us to accurately date them and extrapolate information on the early earth.
Buuuut also…zircon is not cubic zirconium! They are two different minerals! One is a silicate, and the other is an oxide. We don’t use zircon in jewelry. We use cubic zirconium because it is almost as hard and shiny as diamonds are.

Other minerals that are not going to kill you:

Pyrite and Marcasite. These both have the same chemical formula. In the right conditions, it is possible for them to react with water and create sulpheric acid. Sitting on your shelf is not the right conditions. Stop freaking out.

Lapis Lazuli. Look, what did I just say about pyrite?

Malachite. It is a hydrated copper carbonate. Let me break that down: hydrated mean water, which is not gonna kill you. Copper is not going to kill you. Carbonate can end up as carbonic acid, which you might be more familiar with as the fizzy part of your soda. Also carbonates: limestone, marble, seashells.

Torbernite. Well, first off, good luck finding any. It does contain uranium, but not enough to emit enough radiation to actually do anything. Uranium is present in trace amounts in a number of different rocks, but especially granite. Your countertop probably isn’t actually granite but you’ve been around enough granite anyway that if that little bit of radioactivity hasn’t killed you yet then it’s not going to.

(As an aside: radioactive elements like uranium kill people via heavy metal poisoning, not radioactivity. And radon is an inert noble gas–the only reason it’s dangerous is because it quickly decays into much nastier elements. Ever heard of polonium? This should address that bullshit at the end of the post about topaz and smokey quartz and whatnot.)

Moldavite. If I were to go through all the various minerals with aluminum oxide, we would be here a long time. And no one wants that. Moldavite is glass.

Sunstone. See rant about moonstone.

Galena. Yup, lead is bad for you. Just don’t lick your specimen and wash your hands once you’re done peering at it. I’ve held galena many times and do not yet have a neurological disorder.

Chalcopyrite. Why on earth someone decided that copper is dangerous is beyond me. Sulfur–it’s in eggs (you can smell it). Your body needs it. Again, just don’t brain yourself with the mineral and you’ll be fine. (Chalcopyrite is denser than moonstone in case you decide to ignore my advice, so probably just stick to the moonstone.)

Fluorite. Beautiful mineral, comes in all sorts of colors. Fluorine doesn’t kill you so start actually brushing your teeth you numbskulls. (Fluorine is in toothpaste.)

So what actually is the bad stuff?

Cinnabar. It’s not about to suddenly turn into dimethyl mercury and kill you instantaneously. Just don’t lick it, burn it, or grind it up and snort it. You can be in the same room as cinnabar, and even sit right in front of it while you take your mineralogy final, and be just fine. I know from experience.

Realgar. Its chemical forumla is AsS, which is just hilarious. I think they actually let us handle this one, though. We just had to be sure to wash our hands.

Stibnite. One bad motherfucker. The American Museum of Natural History in NYC has an incredible specimen. Just don’t eat it and wash your hands after handling it.

Hutchinsonite. Good Lord, why did someone take the time to dig up all these rare minerals? Pretty much the same as stibnite, except I don’t think the American Museum of Natural History has such a nice specimen.

And that’s my two cen–well. My twenty dollar’s worth. If you have any questions or comments, shoot em my way! I’m always happy to ramble on about geological things (as you may have noticed).