‘Bumblebee Jasper’ / ‘Mustard Jasper’
An attractive orange, white, and black mineral – the contrasts of this piece make it a popular eye-catcher. However, it has a dark secret.
First of all, this material is not a form of Jasper at all. Dripping acids onto the surface will produce bubbles of gas, showing it is at least in part a Carbonate.
When tested, the grey and white areas are found to be Calcium Carbonate. The black areas are caused by Pyrite inclusions – the yellow and orange areas are coloured by Realgar – Arsenic Sulfide.
While safe enough to display, this mineral should ideally not be handled too often; it should not be kept within reach of pets or children.
In my opinion, due to proximity to the skin, it should not be used for jewellery making, especially in any form where it openly contacts the skin (beads, etc).
Lapidary, cutting, or grinding of this material is just something I can’t recommend to anyone.
One of the Mindat users posted an ICP-MS result for a test of the material, which had a 12000mg per kilogram Arsenic level; the lethal level in humans is 140-1400mg. Obviously, you aren’t going to be eating it – but dust, skin contact… what if a child puts a tumblestone in their mouth? What about the people who cut and polished it?
This is especially dangerous to the lapidaries who work the material but should be considered by everyone and should be made public knowledge by as many sellers as possible.
I will not sell this material, even if purely for the sakes of the poor bugger who has to cut it, often in a small studio with inadequate ventilation.
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the art center I go to allows you to cut with no ventilation. I got a headache that has lasted for a week from sitting across from someone cutting bumblebee jasper. didn’t pay attention to what they were cutting until started getting a headache. was told by the teacher that it was ok because the water would prevent any toxicity. now they will provide masks for the students when someone is cutting it. is this safe, I am very sensitive to some chemicals. the bumblebee jasper was mostly yellow and orange. and after 10 days still have a little headache.
Water does not prevent toxicity, it only reduces the amount of dust floating around the air. When the water dries out, any uncleared dust remains in the room, along with whatever the rock contains – asbestos, mercury, copper and heavy metals etc. This dust can easily end up airborne.
I wouldn’t personally want to spend too much time in an area with someone cutting any stone without ventilation, no matter whether the material is toxic or not. Pretty much any rock dust can cause lung conditions.
At an absolute minimum I would expect cutters to be wearing a N95 rated respirator (not a cloth type mask) and cutting using water or oil, with as much ventilation as possible as close to the dust source as possible.
I’ve linked a few articles below that I would suggest having a read of, and deciding on whether its worth the risk to go to that place again or not, especially if you are sensitive to chemicals already.
https://torontolife.com/life/my-beautiful-death/
https://www.rockngem.com/dangerous-dust/
https://www.rockngem.com/lapidary-safety-tips/
Hello John,
I have to say that I am very impressed with your website!
Thank you for sharing this extremely important information for everyone working with shell, stone and metal. We don’t often realize the health effects that these beautuful items contain. I have passed the links on to my sister who is also a jeweler. Shout outs from Canada!