California's state rock raked over the coals
California’s official state symbols tell a story of a place of natural wealth and pioneering spirit, not to mention exploitable natural resources.
For example, there’s the redwood tree—a reminder of rugged coastlines and peaceful mountains. Then there’s the state mineral, gold, which tells of the hardy miners of the past. But what’s the meaning behind serpentine, the state rock? In 1965, leaders chose this mineral-packed stone as a symbol for the state’s mining prowess.
“We were the first state to have a state rock,” said State Geologist John Parish. “California leads the way.”
But now some activists are saying that designation was a mistake. So what’s not to like about shiny green serpentine? Well, it turns out that one of the minerals in the rock is asbestos, which has been blamed for causing mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer.
That makes serpentine not just a rock, but rather a political hot potato. When serpentine gets broken up—for example during construction or excavation—asbestos particles can go into the air and become a health hazard.
Some people say it can be just as hazardous when Californians love serpentine as much as they love West Coast swing dancing, the official state dance, or the grizzly bear, the official state animal.
Enter State Senator Gloria Romero, (Dem-East LA). She took the carcinogenic matter into her own hands by introducing Senate Bill 624, which would take away serpentine’s title. On Monday, the bill received unanimous approval from the State Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee.
Romero and her staffers say the bill will remind Californians that asbestos—and by extension serpentine—is a bona fide health hazard.
“I think it’s an awareness issue,” said Teala Schaff, a spokesperson for Romero. “If the state can have a hand in keeping people healthy, that’s a positive.”
So how did serpentine become California’s pet rock in the first place? John Parish, the state's geologist, explained in a phone interview that one of its core minerals—asbestos—wasn’t always considered a toxin. For years, it was prized for its heat-resistant qualities and widely used in construction and shipbuilding.
In short, not many people were talking about asbestos in 1965, when serpentine won its title.
“Forty-five years ago, asbestos was a very valuable commercial mineral,” Parish said.
That changed in the 1980s, when awareness of the health risks from asbestos began to grow. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency largely phased out its use, but California’s state rock designation stuck.
Linda Reinstein, CEO and co-founder of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, said leaders were too slow to recognize the irony. Reinstein’s husband died of mesothelioma in 2003, and she now works to promote awareness of asbestos hazards.
Among cancers, mesothelioma is relatively rare, but some 2,000 to 3,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, according to the American Lung Association. The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization estimates that 10,000 Americans die every year from asbestos-related diseases.
That makes California’s state rock designation an insult to victims of asbestos illnesses, said Reinstein.
“This became more than a laughing matter,” said Reinstein. “This is really a health issue.”
So how prevalent is serpentine? And how might it contribute to asbestos-related health concerns? Gennette Paauwe of the California Air Resources Board said serpentine is prevalent in upland areas throughout the state, such as the Sierra Nevada Foothills and the Pacific Coast Range. Coincidentally, those places are also hot spots for new home construction, Paauwe said, meaning it's more likely that the serpentine will be disturbed and broken up into asbestos.
“As California’s been going through a building boom over the last 20 to 30 years, the rock, in certain parts of the state, is in regions that are being built that are being disturbed,” Paauwe said.
Activists like Reinstein say that’s more than enough reason to take serpentine off its pedestal.
“We don’t need a rock,” Reinstein said. “We have a mineral, which is gold.”
Reinstein said Romero's bill has bipartisan support and no vocal opponents. So while the desert tortoise, California's state reptile, can crawl proudly across the sand, and the California Gray Whale can swim the seas with dignity, it looks like serpentine is no Rock of Ages.
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Discussion
As to the name of the rock, it seems to have more to do with the "patterns" than the appearance.
As John Upton said in the SF Chronicle July 7, "Serpentine is a very hard type of rock that forms deep beneath the Earth’s surface, where the temperature and pressure are extremely high. The material is squeezed up to the surface along fault lines, meaning it’s far more common in California and the San Francisco Peninsula than in most other parts of the world." So it's that twisted, serpentine nature of the deposits that give it the name.
Upton also quotes State Geologist John Parrish, who agrees with Nate about the lack of danger from the unprocessed serpentine: “The rock itself is benign — unless you happen to be caught in an avalanche or get hit in the head by somebody throwing it,” California State Geologist John Parrish said.
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Rock-stuck-in-a-hard-place-97991714.html#ixzz0uFYGfJrx
The biome comment is a good one - any time you notice you've emerged from the forest and are surrounded by sparse gray pines (or digger pines as they are sometimes called), you can bet you'll find serpentine if you kick up the dirt.
As a river rat I have fond associations with serpentine. It's beautiful when combined with whitewater:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rsSbTPEJrT4/Reoz-rxXlmI/AAAAAAAAALU/21bVjg1kz-...
Come on people - the rock is harmless. It's only when people grind it up, fluff the resulting asbestos, and stick it in our walls that we cause problems. Incidentally - how did the rock get it's name? I'm not sure I see the serpent in it...
I am a biologist and a research biochemist specializing in natural occurring (NOA) "asbestos" in California. The legislature is a day late (meaning decades late) and a dollar short (meaning, well more) and working on the complete wrong subject. ADAO is not intentionally misleading, but they as a group are misleading. Natural occurring forms of asbestos occur in all states in the ground from soft friable easily airborne to hard rock hard to blow up with dynamite. In California communities have lived on all forms of natural occurring Chrysotile "asbestos" for well over 200 years. Intensive studies of death certificates shows no excess lung cancer or any excess mesothelioma at Chrysotile sites at all. San Francisco is the most contaminated Chrysotile city on earth. Yet small communities in California who have lived on Tremolite asbestos deposits for only short periods, show large quantities of excess mesothelioma. Not just in humans but in animals too. Huge levels of death from a non serpentine NOA. This news regarding Tremolite was published in the newspapers, mostly front page news, in Sacramento for 8 years straight! What do the legislators do? Why they OK "asbestos" epidemics by refusing to address the problem, and they condemn the innocent serpentine rock without even realizing what they are doing. For those who don't know, this exact same subject has nearly killed entire communities in the United States. Groups such as ADAO focusing on Chrysotile "asbestos" to the exclusion of the far more dangerous forms of "asbestos" have lead to the communities of Libby Montana and Jefferson Parish Louisiana having enormous non serpentine epidemics of human death. The legislators could actually do something useful here, but not while they are mislead by non scientists such as ADAO.
I am a biologist and a research biochemist specializing in natural occurring (NOA) "asbestos" in California. The legislature is a day late (meaning decades late) and a dollar short (meaning, well more) and working on the complete wrong subject. ADAO is not intentionally misleading, but they as a group are misleading. Natural occurring forms of asbestos occur in all states in the ground from soft friable easily airborne to hard rock hard to blow up with dynamite. In California communities have lived on all forms of natural occurring Chrysotile "asbestos" for well over 200 years. Intensive studies of death certificates shows no excess lung cancer or any excess mesothelioma at Chrysotile sites at all. San Francisco is the most contaminated Chrysotile city on earth. Yet small communities in California who have lived on Tremolite asbestos deposits for only short periods, show large quantities of excess mesothelioma. Not just in humans but in animals too. Huge levels of death from a non serpentine NOA. This news regarding Tremolite was published in the newspapers, mostly front page news, in Sacramento for 8 years straight! What do the legislators do? Why they OK "asbestos" epidemics by refusing to address the problem, and they condemn the innocent serpentine rock without even realizing what they are doing. For those who don't know, this exact same subject has nearly killed entire communities in the United States. Groups such as ADAO focusing on Chrysotile "asbestos" to the exclusion of the far more dangerous forms of "asbestos" have lead to the communities of Libby Montana and Jefferson Parish Louisiana having enormous non serpentine epidemics of human death. The legislators could actually do something useful here, but not while they are mislead by non scientists such as ADAO.
Changing serpentine from being the state rock will not increase the "awareness" of the dangers of asbestos. In fact, it will do the opposite. As long as serpentine is our state rock, we have a venue for discussing the dangers of asbestos. The obscurity of changing serpentine into just another rock on ground gives us venue to discuss just that -- another interesting rock on the ground.
Mercury is valuable -- but highly poisonous. Would you never mention cinnabar or pick up a piece? How about sulphur? Do you think oil is safe?
Can our legislature please focus on issues that will make a difference 100 years from now? -- Like education, preserving biodiversity of species, global warming, the state budget -- and stop grandstanding over a rock?
California: the first state to name an official rock. California: the first state to denounce an official rock.
How about asbestos as the official disease?
This article and the discussion by legislators overlooks the fact the the high concentration of serpentine soils, unique to California, allow for a host of endemic and specialized plant communities that contribute to California's amazing biodiversity. Some species in the Red Hills, for example, are only found there -- no where else in the world -- and this is due to a combination of climate and the soil type, which is heavily impacted by the presence of serpentine. It is completely silly to dis a rock based on a naturally-occurring mineral it has within it that is only dangerous if disturbed. I would argue that gold, the state's mineral, has caused heaps more problems in terms of ecological damage to the state (mining techniques wreaked havoc on the state's river systems) and caused more harm than serpentine ever will.