Abalone shell
Mr G H Ireland
Can anyone tell me: Is the dust from Abalone shell particularly toxic? I
ground a small piece to fit into a bracelet, avoiding breathing the dust by
breathing through a handkerchief, but suffered a slight sore throat and a
metallic taste in the mouth afterwards. I wondered; was it due to the dust
or was it from some other cause? There are plenty of coughs and colds going
about round here.
Regards, Igor
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Marilee J. Layman
<ig...@argonet.co.uk> wrote:
>Abalone shell dust
>
>Can anyone tell me: Is the dust from Abalone shell particularly toxic? I
>ground a small piece to fit into a bracelet, avoiding breathing the dust by
>breathing through a handkerchief, but suffered a slight sore throat and a
>metallic taste in the mouth afterwards.
Yes. You should always drill shells under water. See your doctor
soon.
Marilee J. Layman
Recent beadwork at: http://members.aol.com/patterner/beads.htm
Ronald Arney
Toxic? It can sure as hell kill you. Don't panic, but get yourself checked out
pronto.
As I understand it, from a friend of mine in Tucson, Arizona, whom had a
handfull of workers die on him back in th '40's or '50's, the dust can cause
puss sacks in the lungs. If the hospital does not know, they treat you for
pneumonia, and kill you. Abalone, Malichite and such MUST be worked wet, and
everything else Should be.
And Hey! This, and 'Is this gun loaded?' 'This knife sharp?' are the sorts of
questions you are supposed to ask before hand. Ok? <g>
ROn
>
> Abalone shell dust
>
> Can anyone tell me: Is the dust from Abalone shell particularly toxic? I
> ground a small piece to fit into a bracelet, avoiding breathing the dust by
> breathing through a handkerchief, but suffered a slight sore throat and a
Curt Gates
<ig...@argonet.co.uk> wrote:
> Can anyone tell me: Is the dust from Abalone shell particularly toxic?
Yes, it is toxic -- if "toxic" is the right word. Working some shells and
corals can affect your health, both long- and short-term. There is a lot
of anecdotal evidence, but not much written up in health science journals
-- that I can find. Evidently, there are not enough shell workers in the
world to warrant study. The reports I get are personal first- and
second-hand accounts from people who have worked shell for jewelry, and
for inlay for musical instruments. The stories come independently from
instrument makers and jewelry makers. Certain species of shell seem to be
more troublesome than others. Abalone and black coral have a bad
reputation. Fresh water mussels don't seem to be as bad.
Why is abalone a problem? When this subject came up a while back, one
person claimed that wet grinding produced chlorine, and recommended that
it be done dry. Another believed that it released arsenic. This may be so,
but I have my doubts. The smell is not like chlorine, and arsenic seems to
be available in trace amounts -- for shells harvested in polluted waters.
Shell is a matrix of calcium carbonate and organic material. I suspect it
is the organic material that causes the problems, possibly producing an
alergic reaction. New Zealand has health regulations to protect their
shell workers, but they never answered my email or letter mail requesting
particulars. They have a brief mention of the issue on their web site.
There, they cut Paua shell, which is a type of abalone.
You mentioned the word "dust" in your post. This suggests that you worked
the material dry. Generally, it is recommended that you work the material
wet, to reduce the amount of dust. Even then, though, you will still
inhale tiny amounts unless you use a ventilation hood.
Until some government eventually decides to find a study to determine the
exact cause of the problem, and it's health effects, I'd strongly suggest
that you take all the anecdotal evidence seriously and be extremely
cautious about working ablalone and similar material. If you can smell it,
or taste it, you are definitely getting too much exposure.
The marine environment is a real jungle of prey and predator. And
shellfish have their share of parasites and predators, including sponges
(Cliona) that bore holes in shell. It might well be that some species,
like abalone, have developed ways to protect themselves from these
parasites/predators -- sort of a chemical defense built into the shell.
Would make an interesting thesis topic for someone studying marine
biology. And as further speculation, it might be that this chemical
defense is what causes problems for human shell workers.
Andrew Werby
> Abalone shell dust
>
> Can anyone tell me: Is the dust from Abalone shell particularly toxic? I
> ground a small piece to fit into a bracelet, avoiding breathing the dust by
> breathing through a handkerchief, but suffered a slight sore throat and a
> metallic taste in the mouth afterwards. I wondered; was it due to the dust
> or was it from some other cause? There are plenty of coughs and colds going
> about round here.
> Regards, Igor
>
>
> --
> __ __ __ __ __ ___ _____________________________________________
> |__||__)/ __/ \|\ ||_ | /
> | || \\__/\__/| \||__ | /...Internet access for all Acorn RISC machines
> ___________________________/ ig...@argonet.co.uk
[Here in California, where the abalone once thrived (they are becoming
increasingly
rare of late) there is a general taboo against grinding on the shells. Although
I haven't subjected any to chemical analysis to confirm this, they are supposed
to contain arsenical compounds and be very dangerous to work with,
especially dry.
I'm not sure if this applies to all the Haliotis species, or just ours- the New
Zealanders seem to use their "Paua" shells, a related species, quite
extensively
in jewelry. Perhaps they take special precautions, or resign themselves to
dying
young- I'm not sure which.]
Andrew Werby
UNITED ARTWORKS- Sculpture, Jewelry, and other art stuff
http://unitedartworks.com
http://www.computersculpture.com for 3d design tools
Brian Adam
<URL:mailto:dre...@lanminds.com> wrote:
> I'm not sure if this applies to all the Haliotis species, or just ours- the
> New Zealanders seem to use their "Paua" shells, a related species, quite
> extensively in jewelry.
Paua is the New Zealand Maori name for Haliotis iris. Thje health risks are
the same as abalone.
Brian
--
B r i a n A d a m J e w e l l e r y E y e w e a r
http://www.adam.co.nz NEW ZEALAND
Tony Lowe
says...
>
>Mr G H Ireland wrote:
>Toxic? It can sure as hell kill you. Don't panic, but get yourself
checked out
>pronto.
>
>As I understand it, from a friend of mine in Tucson, Arizona, whom had
a
>handfull of workers die on him back in th '40's or '50's, the dust can
cause
>puss sacks in the lungs. If the hospital does not know, they treat you
for
>pneumonia, and kill you. Abalone, Malichite and such MUST be worked
wet, and
Ron dead right , Abalone or as we know it Paua is extremely dangerous.I
have worked it for over 30years and just last year ended up in hospital
on life support for 3 weeks after doing a rush job with Black Coral and
Paua not taking the due precautions . The hospital as Ron stated treated
me for Pneumomia , I was in a coma and could not pass on any info and my
wife had no idea what I had been doing . I was lucky a specialist
Tropical disease was called in and found the problem , pus sacks on the
lungs.I had only worked with the materials for about 15 miniutes getting
a presentation piece finished using a Dremel with some sanding and
polishing tools just to shape and finish the pieces in situ at the
function . I could not believe how quickly and dramatically it took
effect,what started as a cold like symptom quicky turned into a coma.Be
real careful and if you have even minor symptoms go to the doctor and
make sure they understand what it could be
Gene Hahn
Assistance appreciated -