Irradiated gemstone jewelry?? (health issue too)

I bought a blue topaz online at Ice.com and it�s amazingly blue.
I was told that most Blue Topaz is usually irradiated? Is this true?

What about stones like Peridot, Amethyst, or Moonstone?

(Particularly those in jewelry made in Nepal, etc for instance? )


This practice seems a bit unhealthy to me. Even though some claim these are "safe"levels, any "level" of that would seem dangerous to me. How is this done exactly and how much radiation is usually in these and if worn for a short time, could this cause a health problem?

Any more info on this "irradiation" thing, or any links anyone knows of, will be greatly appreciated.

how can u tell if a moonstone has been irradiated, or a peridot? are those commonly irradiated? i have two, and both are made into jewelry that was handcrafted in or around the Nepal area. i think the peridot came from Burma, but the woman at the mall wasnt too sure about this particular piece.


i have a moonstone ring that i got from the same place and it looks almost rawish to a degree,but it polished and you can see cracks in it and looks pretty bland except for a nice blueish blob that appears right in the middle sometimes.
looks fairly natural, i guess. never had any other moonstones though.

its really small, too. like a 6-7mm.

id think a moonstone being enhanced would be different than lets say a Topaz.

the moonstone was kind of cheap. the whole thing is set in a ring and was for about 35 dollars (US)... ring+stone.


I had this discussion over at Godlikeproductions and I am not sure about the legitamacy of some of the info, but some interesting links:
www.godlikeproductions.com.../4/05



[edit on 4-1-2005 by greenblob]

Depends on where you bought the jewelry and where they got the jewels. Most reputable jewelers and big names are not going to sell something that is a health hazard.

There are various gemstones that are altered, usually by heat, or sometimes by radiation, to change the color.

Now if they were saying that they were selling you green diamonds that were radiated, then that would be something to worry about.