Crystal Health &Safety
Crystals can be of great use and comfort to us when stored and handled correctly, however, there are a few important safety tips to consider before handling, displaying and cleaning your collection!
As we’ve discussed already, 'Crystals' are actually a variety of materials, often mixed together and some of these substances can be toxic or even carcinogenic.
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However, it’s not nearly as scary as it sounds! It just means using a little extra caution and doing research on your particular crystals.
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Many beloved and popular crystals are included in this potentially harmful list and generally speaking most pose very little risk to the customer who purchases a polished tumblestone or finished jewellery piece. For example many stones like Emeralds contain Beryllium, a cancer causing substance, and Tiger’s Eye contains Asbestos, another carcinogen.
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So how can crystals with these deadly materials be safe to own and use or wear? Well, the main risks that crystals can pose to our health come from inhalation, ingestion or mishandling! This means if you can avoid breathing in, eating or doing very silly things with your crystals then the health risks are very minimal. We have explained more below!
Inhalation
The first of these dangers to health that we mentioned come from inhaling harmful dust or fibres, from broken or unfinished crystals, especially those that contain things like Silica and Asbestos. For example, Tiger's Eye is safe to buy as a tumblestone, pillar or necklace because the Asbestos is all encased inside Quartz, or has even been replaced by it, so only exposing the fibres within would be harmful. These stones pose a risk to the miners who are digging them up and the jewellers who are drilling, grinding or cutting the crystals, as breathing in the small particles and fibres is what can cause conditions like Silicosis and Asbestosis. People who simply buy and wear or display a finished, polished piece of these products will not be at risk in that way, but great care should be taken if a crystal of this kind becomes damaged or fractured. For more information on which parts of your collection to be extra careful about inhaling dust from, please see our list below. This list is not exhaustive and we strongly recommend you to always do further research for yourselves!
Ingestion
The next of the dangers we mentioned comes from ingestion. While many people make gem elixirs from Crystals, we do not recommend it. If you are planning to make one, extreme caution should be used as many contain harmful or even lethal substances. Many Crystals are made from materials that may react dangerously with stomach acid to create more potent acids, poisonous gases or other threats to life. Others should not be eaten as they are poisonous or contain excessive levels of metals like copper. Any Crystal that contains carcinogens also make this list and are included as such below, again, this list is not exhaustive by any means and we recommend that our customers do not ingest any Crystals and do their own further research.
Cleaning and Handling
The last risk we want to mention is from toxins that can be leached from certain crystals when handled excessively or placed in water, including things like Lead and Mercury. Crystals like this should be cleaned and handled minimally or with gloves on and extra care should be taken to always keep them out of reach of children and pets. Any Crystals of this kind we recommend using gloves for (as well as others that may be fragile or particularly valuable.)
Much of the time this is an over-abundance of caution and simply washing hands with soapy water after handling will suffice, however as some crystals contain such lethal or toxic substances as mentioned in this section, it is better to be safe than sorry!
Cinnabar is a great example of a potentially dangerous crystal requiring a little more care. Polished stones of Cinnabar encased in other materials are deemed by many to be fairly low risk for the reasons described when we discussed Tiger's Eye. However, because Cinnabar is made from Mercury Sulfide, it is sensible to treat it as one of your 'higher risk' pieces, no matter which form you have it in. Cinnabar on its own is especially risky as it is very low on the Moh's Hardness scale and can easily flake off to the touch, not a great quality for a toxic substance! Finally there are many Crystals that will react poorly or even dangerously to chemicals, soaps and sometimes even water. This means it is essential to research your Crystal, refer to our cleaning guides and take note of it's properties before you reach for the soapy water! We have included much of this information in our cleaning guide, some of which is also included in the lists below.
General Safety Tips and Further Links
To summarise, the main things to remember to keep yourself and your Crystals safe:
1. DO NOT INHALE any part of a Crystal.
2. DO NOT INGEST any part of a Crystal.
3. Do not use harsh CHEMICALS on your Crystals, and avoid WATER for porous or potentially toxic pieces.
4. Keep all Crystals OUT OF REACH of CHILDREN AND PETS.
5. WEAR GLOVES to handle and clean any toxic Crystals, if handling/cleaning is necessary.
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As always, these lists are not exhaustive by any means and we strongly recommend further research of your own. The information shared here and elsewhere on this website is intended as a beginner's guide only and we take no responsibility for illness, injury or Crystal damage that comes from any mishandling or improper use.
Other useful resources for researching Crystal Safety include the International Gem Society's List of Toxic Crystals, linked below:
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https://www.gemsociety.org/article/gemstone-toxicity-table/
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Our Toxic Crystal List:
Under maintenance, please see the IGS link above