Daily OpusEverything I write is freely rebloggable. Just keep the source and tell people about my books :D [Until I decide otherwise, my pronouns are Ze/Hir/Hirself. As in "Ze went to the shops to get hir medication hirself". Thank you for the respect.]
Omg this is the first I’ve seen these. Is it even safe to soak your crystals in water then drink it? Surely there’s a decent risk of getting way too many of certain minerals or metals?
It’s not safe. Some crystals are water soluble. Some will dissolve, others will crack or flake off with prolonged use. And even ones that don’t show signs of visible damage can leech harmful minerals into the water, like arsenic and silicon dioxide, to name two off the top of my head.
There’s also issues with people getting cheap crystals and claiming them to be things they’re not. I remember there was a batch of crystals found to have asbestos in them recently, that shouldn’t have asbestos in them. They found out cause people were putting them *inside* their bodies. Which yeah, don’t… don’t do that either. Buy a body safe dildo like everyone else and get your rocks off without rocks. Please.
Hi! Geologist here =D
@thebibliosphere is totally correct in this instance; not all ‘crystals’ are created equal!
While quartz- the three crystals in the advertisement above are all derivations of quartz- is relatively benign (sand, the primary ingredient of glass, is mostly ground up quartz), you have no guarantee that the crystals on the ends of these straws are going to be both quartz and only quartz, as opposed to some closer look-alike or a dyed stone or just glass.
The big issue with the ‘crystal’ supply chain is that it is almost entirely unregulated, a rabbit hole that starts with ‘cheap glass dyed to look like amethyst’ and ends with ‘literal slave labour was used to strip these stones from the earth in the most damaging way possible’ (which, okay, won’t poison you, but should be a factor!)
In general, stones that are in any way green or blue will leach arsenic and/or toxic copper compounds - while very pretty, turns out copper isn’t very good for the human body in most forms. Stones that are at all metallic probably have lead in their chemical components somewhere so please don’t put them in your mouth. Stones that have pretty ‘inclusions’ - a different type of crystal inside of another - could have wildly different solubility conditions (the quartz is fine in your drink! the rutile inside of it significantly less so - to quote my mineralogy textbook, “when cleaning, avoid transferring material from hands to mouth”). Softer stones will chip, often microscopically, or dissolve depending on their chemical makeup.
A secondary issue here is anyone who actually buys and uses these straws: What are you drinking out of these straws? Is it always just water? You swear? Not lemon water, not electrolyte water, not sprite or some other soda, not any other liquid that may or may not react with the crystals in a way water doesn’t?
How are you cleaning them? Bleach is extremely reactive with certain minerals in a way that the cute crystal water is not. Pretty much all cleaners can induce a chemical reaction that you probably don’t want happening on something that goes into your mouth/body: vinegar, ammonia, alcohol, detergents, and common household soaps are all on this list.
And again: how are you cleaning these straws? A dishwasher is prrrrobably not a good environment for a lot of different crystals over time, not to mention the structural integrity of the things. Handwashing prrrrrobably isn’t doing the trick when it comes to bacteria, which are already a problem with reusable straws that are a single piece tub with no extra cracks for hiding out and multiplying.
I know, I know, they’re super cute (I’d wear them in my hair, personally!), but generally speaking it’s not a good idea to put a crystal in your body; this goes for… all your holes, folks, please by all the gods
If you have to have your crystal water, try something that is crystal-adjacent instead of crystal-immersive. There are (expensive) water bottles out there whose bases can be filled with the mineral of your choice and are much safer alternatives.
With my Witch Hat on, I can say this has pretty much the same energetic effect that the straws do, without chances of accidental lead poisoning!
tl;dr
a) Most minerals/crystals are toxic
b) The mineral/crystal industry is wildly unregulated so quality will pretty much always be suspect
