For those who do not know, almost all (>99%) of blue topaz available obtains its color via neutron or electron radiation. The sources of irradiation are either the inside of a nuclear reactor core, or a linear accelerator. This has been a long standing practice, and as most people know (even the lay person), blue topaz has been readily available in the United States for a long long time. What most people don’t know are the legal aspects of it. David Federman of Colored Stone put it well by stating according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, “…all topaz blued in a nuclear reactor is illegal for sale unless tested and cleared by a NRC-licensed distributor. Since there are no licensed distributors in America, all “London Blue” topaz imported into this country in the past decade is technically classifiable as contraband”. Earlier this past spring, the NRC finally figured out their own policy on this and sent out heart felt letters to major jewelry retailers, demanding the names of their blue topaz suppliers and warning them that purchasing the material was against the law. The retailers of course quickly pulled all material from their shelves.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission then sought the help of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), to obtain all of the testing data for blue topaz. Armed with this information, their next step which has been carried out up through September has been to go to New York and test random sample batches of stones from dealers. The results from this testing were that all batches, but one, tested at levels consistent with background radiation; while the other batch tested at twice the level of background radiation.
Duncan White, chief of the NRC’s State Agreements and Industrial Safety Branch, said that “Thus far, the NRC has found no health or safety problems, and consequently is considering an approach that would substantially soften the impact of its renewed attention to irradiated gem. Right now, we are considering ‘grandfathering’ existing inventories of all blue topaz within the U.S. – allowing companies to sell their goods and applying new requirements to material still overseas”. Duncan White offered no definitive answer on when this would become effective, but stated the NRC is continuing to test blue topaz material from other sources until it can be concluded there is no threat to the public.
Currently, many in the industry state that they are reluctant to consider selling blue topaz any time soon for fear of lawsuits. Others have experimented by substituting diffusion-coated blue topaz for the irradiated material. Diffusion-coated blue topaz derives its color from an electro-coated layer on a colorless stone.
Personally, I think all of this material is garbage, along with any variety of cheaply treated stones including mystic topaz, london blue topaz, swiss blue topaz, etc. If I never saw another piece at a show I could not be happier, and I only publish this article in the interest of current events.
“London Blue” Topaz
