Is linarite toxic?
Linarite, PbCu(SO4)(OH)2, is 51.69% lead and 15.85% copper by mass, worked. Which UK workplace rules each metal points to, quoted. Not health or safety advice.
Linarite, PbCu(SO4)(OH)2, is 51.69% lead and 15.85% copper by mass, worked from the IMA formula. In Great Britain its two metals sit under different workplace rules: lead under the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002, copper under COSHH, whose EH40 table lists copper limits. Its sheet prints no hazard wording. Not advice.
In short
- What it is. The Handbook of Mineralogy linarite sheet gives PbCu(SO4)(OH)2, monoclinic, bright to dark azure-blue, hardness 2.5, brittle, perfect {100} cleavage, density 5.35, “an uncommon secondary mineral in the oxidized zone of Pb–Cu deposits”. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC Master List writes the same formula, G, 1822, Spain. Worked, lead is 207.2 and copper 63.546 of a formula mass of 400.82: 51.69% and 15.85%.
- The two-metal check. COSHH 2002, regulation 5 says COSHH regulations 6 to 13 apply except where and to the extent that the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 apply, and HSE EH40/2005 Workplace exposure limits says asbestos and lead are regulated separately. Its Table 1 does list copper: “Copper fume (as Cu)” and “Copper and compounds: dust and mists (as Cu)”. So linarite’s two metals point to two different rule-books, which a lead-only reading misses.
- The four-page ledger. Of the four minerals with a lead hazard page here, linarite carries the least lead: galena 86.60%, cerussite 77.54%, pyromorphite 76.38%, linarite 51.69%. It is the only one of the four with copper. A lead percentage ranks composition only: it does not rank risk, and it hides the second metal.
- What the sheet does not say. A script finds no toxic, poison, hazard, danger, harmful or soluble on the linarite sheet. This page adds no solubility claim, no handling method and no verdict; silence on a mineral data sheet is not an assessment.
- Not advice. This page is not health, safety or legal advice. HSE’s page on health effects from exposure to lead says CLAW places a duty on employers to prevent, or where this is not reasonably practicable, to control employee exposure to lead. Workplace duties are a matter for HSE; exposure or symptoms for a clinician. The general site note is toxic minerals in a collection.
| Mineral and formula | Source | Pb, wt% | Cu, wt% | Metal with an EH40 Table 1 entry | Metal EH40 para. 52 sends elsewhere |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linarite, PbCu(SO4)(OH)2 | IMA (G, 1822, Spain); sheet column (2) | 51.69 | 15.85 | Copper | Lead |
| Linarite, Arenas, Sardinia | Sheet analysis (1), recalculated to 100% | 51.96 | 15.68 | Copper | Lead |
| Caledonite, Pb5Cu2(SO4)3(CO3)(OH)6 | Handbook formula; IMA writes Cu2Pb5(SO4)3(CO3)(OH)6 | 64.22 | 7.88 | Copper | Lead |
| Pyromorphite, Pb5(PO4)3Cl | IMA | 76.38 | 0 | None | Lead |
| Cerussite, PbCO3 | IMA | 77.54 | 0 | None | Lead |
| Galena, PbS | IMA | 86.60 | 0 | None | Lead |
Is linarite toxic? What it is made of, worked
It is a lead and copper mineral, about half lead by mass. The Handbook of Mineralogy linarite sheet gives PbCu(SO4)(OH)2, and its ideal column prints SO3 19.97, CuO 19.85, PbO 55.69 and H2O 4.49%. A script on standard atomic weights reproduces those oxides and gives 51.69% lead, 15.85% copper, 8.00% sulphur, 23.95% oxygen and 0.50% hydrogen; lead and copper together are 67.55% of the formula. The sheet’s analysed specimen, from Arenas, Sardinia, was recalculated to 100% after deducting ZnO 0.04% and MgO 0.26%, and works out at 51.96% lead and 15.68% copper. These figures agree with the species page, linarite.
What the sheet records, and what it does not. Monoclinic crystals elongated along [010], typically tabular, to 8 cm, and crusts and aggregates; hardness 2.5; brittle; cleavage on {100} perfect, on {001} interrupted; conchoidal fracture; density 5.35. It prints no hazard wording of any kind, and this page does not supply one. How the UK lead regulations separate hazard from risk is set out on is pyromorphite toxic and is not repeated here.
Lead and copper: which UK rules each metal points to
Lead goes to its own regulations. The Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002, regulation 2, read on legislation.gov.uk on 6 November 2026 in its latest available revised form, defines lead as lead (including lead alkyls, lead alloys, any compounds of lead and lead as a constituent of any substance or material) which is liable to be inhaled, ingested or otherwise absorbed by persons, with an exception for vehicle exhausts on a road. COSHH 2002, regulation 5 says COSHH regulations 6 to 13 apply except where and to the extent that the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 apply. EH40/2005, paragraph 52, under the heading Asbestos and lead: “Asbestos and lead are regulated separately”. How that definition reads for a lead carbonate, and the lead limit CLAW sets, are on is cerussite toxic.
Copper stays with COSHH. EH40/2005 (fourth edition, 2020) contains the list of workplace exposure limits for use with COSHH. Its Table 1 prints two copper entries: Copper fume (as Cu), CAS 7440-50-8, a long-term limit of 0.2 mg.m-3 over the 8-hour reference period; and Copper and compounds: dust and mists (as Cu), 1 mg.m-3 over 8 hours and 2 mg.m-3 over the 15-minute reference period. They are workplace air limits expressed as copper. This page does not convert them into amounts of linarite or of anything else, and they are not a threshold for a specimen.
Why it matters for this mineral. Galena, cerussite and pyromorphite carry lead and no copper; linarite carries both, and the two metals are written into different instruments. Reading only the lead rules leaves out its copper; reading only EH40 finds copper and no lead. Neither reading says what any particular situation requires; that is for HSE.
Does linarite have more lead than galena or cerussite?
No: less than any other mineral with a lead hazard page here. Worked from their formulas, galena is 86.60% lead, cerussite 77.54% and pyromorphite 76.38%, the figures on is galena toxic, is cerussite toxic and is pyromorphite toxic. Linarite is 51.69%, with 15.85% copper that none of the three has. Caledonite, which the linarite sheet lists as an associate, is 64.22% lead and 7.88% copper, as its species page also gives.
Documented failure: the percentage shortcut. It would be easy to read the ledger as a ranking, with linarite as the mildest. It ranks only composition. Lead percentage does not measure exposure, and the CLAW definition quoted above names any compounds of lead and lead as a constituent of any substance or material, with no composition threshold. The same ranking also hides linarite’s copper, the one thing that separates it from the other three in the table. This page draws no conclusion from the ledger beyond the numbers.
Is linarite rare, and where is linarite found?
Uncommon, from many localities. The sheet calls linarite an uncommon secondary mineral in the oxidized zone of Pb–Cu deposits, and says it occurs in small amounts from many localities, of which only a few are given. Associates: brochantite, anglesite, caledonite, leadhillite, cerussite, malachite and hemimorphite.
Distribution, as printed. Linares, Jaén Province, Spain, for which it is named; Arenas and San Giovanni, Sardinia; fine crystals from the Red Gill and other mines, Caldbeck Fells, Cumbria; Leadhills, Lanarkshire; large crystals in the Kisamori mine, Akita, Japan; Broken Hill, New South Wales; in the USA, large crystals at the Mammoth-St. Anthony mine, Tiger, and in the Grand Reef mine, Arizona, and the Blanchard and Mex-Tex mines, New Mexico, Tintic, Utah, and Cerro Gordo and the Blue Bell claims, California; and large crystals from Tsumeb, Namibia.
What is linarite used for? No source fetched for this page records a use, and the sheet prints none, so this page gives none.
Where should questions about linarite go?
Not to this page. It reports a formula, a sheet and the wording of UK texts. It gives no verdict on linarite or any specimen, and no handling, cleaning, storage or cutting advice. HSE’s page on health effects from exposure to lead sets out what HSE says about lead at work; workplace duties belong with HSE, and exposure or symptoms with a clinician. Other mineral hazards are routed on toxic minerals in a collection and is galena toxic. This is not health, safety or legal advice.
Where to go next. The species is on linarite; the lead pages are is pyromorphite toxic and is cerussite toxic; more guides are in the collecting guides. We hold no catalogue and nothing here is offered for sale; the wanted list is the only commercial route.