That is an old tale that is often repeated. I have even seen in
print. MOP is made of around 85% calcium carbonate, (Same stuff in a
Rolaids), 12% conchiolin,(A protien that acts as a binder) and 3%
water, none of which are harmful or poisonous. You should not inhale
any kind of dust in large amounts if you can help it, but the use of
the term toxic creates images of having to ware protective clothing to
be near the stuff, you could eat it if you like. It is often mixed
into women's cosmetics. The stories seemed to have gotten started
around the turn of the last century. People who worked with shells
became sick and many even died. That was due to the bacteria contained
in the unclean shells that were often many days old and being a once
living thing now was seething with toxic bacteria. The toxins
responsible for most shellfish poisonings are water-soluble, heat and
acid-stable, and are not even inactivated by ordinary cooking methods.
It is not surprising many of these people became sick. The clean MOP
though is in no way toxic. I guess someone could have an allergic
reaction but that would be unique to them. Simple precautions such as
you would use with any dust is all that is needed. The body inhales
pounds of foreign particles each year and in most all cases it just
leaves with the next breath and the remainder is removed with mucus.
If breathing in particles was such a danger, you could not ware a
cotton shirt, bake a pie using flour or play with the kids on the
floor. We are a pretty tough animal.




"Ed Huntress" wrote in message et...
"Cuezilla" wrote in message
om...
Quote
"Watch out for the dust. It's highly toxic. Wear a tight-fitting dust mask
when you work it."

Can you point to some data to support this?

Nope. 'Just repeating what I've read in several accounts of jewelry-making
over the years. When I bought some for inlays around 20 years ago, the
shipment contained a very scary letter describing the same caution.

Ed Huntress