Mineral/GemStone Safety Options

[ChrisSmith]

I have been working with the following crushed stones (putting them into jewelry) and I wanted to ask if there were any known hazards from working with them or if there were any precautions or certain handling procedures I should be following (in terms of stones being toxic to use by mixing in resin or being wet ground/polished on a lapidary)? I tried to see if there were MSDS sheets for each stone- but I had no luck finding any. (Although I did find stories about malachite being toxic and pyrite releasing sulfuric acid when wet… but I'm not sure how to deal with any of these safely and would just like to make sure I'm doing the right thing!)

Here's what I have been using:

• Bismuth
• Jet
• Amazonite
• Pyrite
• Howlite
• Malachite
• Tiger Eye
• Sodalite
• Peridot
• Lepidolite
• Lapis
• Red Opal
• Turquoise

I'd appreciate any help/advice you can give me!