[Jewelry making - Article 00958] - Re: [Orchid] Mercury toxicity

[Thomas Timms]

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Richard

    I don't have first hand experience but here are some web sites on the
    subject. 

	http://www.ephca.com/metals.htm
	http://www.emedicine.com/EMERG/topic813.htm
	http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/mercury0711.html

    There are many more, just search using 'mercury toxicity'. I was a
    fisherman in California for many years. you have to be aware of
    mercury as it is in the fish that you catch. As a matter of fact the
    California Fish and Game supplies a booklet with locations to watch
    for and how many fish can safely be eaten per month taken from various
    locations. Most of the locations of dangerous levels of mercury are
    in the older gold mining areas of California. I also did a five
    summer stint of gold dredging in California with my brother. During
    this time period I got to see first hand the mercury contamination of
    the rivers. For those of you who do not know what gold dredging is I
    will explain. A dredge can be broken down to four major units, the
    vacuum hose and sluice box, the floatation unit, the pump and power
    source (a gas engine of some kind) and finally the hookah gear - air
    pump, hose and regulator. The underwater miner/operator is supplied
    air through the hookah setup and operates the hose like a big vacuum
    sucking up as much of the rock and sand that will fit through the
    opening of the hose (openings range from 1.5" to 10". The vacuum is
    powerful enough to pull rocks about 1" smaller in diameter than the
    hose opening. The rock and sand is pulled up the hose and is sent
    through the sluice box (on the surface of the water)which separates
    the heavier material from the lighter material (washing away the
    lighter material). The whole idea is to punch a hole down to the gold
    which is very close to if not resting on the bedrock. This is where
    the mercury contamination is most noticeable. When you find gold
    nuggets that look like platinum, apply a few drops of hydrochloric
    acid and it magically turns to gold you realize it was mercury
    coating the gold nugget. Another hint are the mercury 'balls' that
    start to roll down the river on the bedrock, after you have disturbed
    there resting place. These were common occurances, not just isolated
    cases, we found mercury in every deposit. This is also something that
    those of you who use natural gold nuggets in your jewelry should
    consider. Mercury and gold will combine into an amalgam, and for a
    nugget to be coated with mercury means the amalgam is overly
    saturated with mercury. Using hydrochloric acid only removes the
    mercury from the surface leaving behind the mercury inside the nugget.
    Heat is the only way to remove the mercury without destroying the
    nugget, and doesn't just about everyone use a torch to make nugget
    jewelry. If you want to play it safe (because most miners today do not
    treat their nuggets) you can 'roast' the nuggets using a cast iron
    fry pan and Coleman stove outside/down wind of you. Of course the fry
    pan will no longer be useful for food. Or you can do what some of the
    old miners did back in the 1850s. Take a large potato cut in half
    long-wise and cut out a small pocket in one half. Place the nuggets
    in the pocket cover with the other potato half, wrap wire around the
    potato to keep halves together and place in an open pit fire for an
    hour or so. The heat will drive the mercury out of the nuggets and
    the potato will absorb the mercury. The sad part about this is that
    not all the mercury found is from the old miners but from the newer
    miners that only care about profits. Well enough of my soapbox. 

T. Timms
ttimms51 AT yahoo.com
AZ USA 

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