TOURMALINE
Tourmaline is technically classified in the mineral group as a semi-precious gemstone of the silicate family. The term
silicate
is used to denote types of
rock
that consist predominantly of
silicate minerals. Two of the main building blocks of tourmaline are aluminum and boron which are bonded to form a
trigonal
crystal system which occurs as long, prismatic and columnar
crystals. This bonding effect which creates crystalline Tourmaline results in a very hard material with a hardness rating of 7-7.5 on the Mohs scale. To put its hardness into perspective, iron is a 4Mohs, and titanium is a 6Mohs – tourmaline being considerably harder than either. It is so hard in fact, it retains its properties under enormous pressure and up to 600 degrees C.
Tourmaline has the unique property of emitting a natural form of FIR or Far Infra Red energy. The prefix 'infra' means 'below' and refers to the wavelengths that are just below the red end of the visible spectrum, hence 'infra-red'. FIR produces a form of radiant heat which is simply a form of energy that heats an object directly, without having to heat the surrounding air. The radiant properties of Infra-red occupy the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between visible light and radio waves. There are many, many health products that employ FIR, including many water products sold in the United States.
Water can absorb infrared rays from an external source. This phenomenon is called "resonant absorption." This absorption of the electromagnetic frequencies of FIR has an immediate and unique effect on the water, energizing the water, reducing surface tension and “conditioning” it prior to ionization. Tourmaline specifically produces an 11 micron, 0.03mA electrical current. It has composite functions such as absorption / repulsion and anion formation etc., which are highly effective for activating tap water.
The tourmaline in the BioStone filter is put into a ceramic bead form. Ceramic is completely non-reactive and non-leaching. Many water filters employ ceramic media, and ceramic coatings are used widely in many applications, including in the medical field.
Recently some other companies have been attacking the BioStone filter. They are claiming that because the BioStone contains tourmaline, and one of the building blocks of tourmaline is aluminum, that the BioStone filter releases aluminum into the drinking water. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Attached is a
lab report
on the BioStone filter. This lab report was commissioned and paid for independently (see the information under client). You can see on the report that:
-
The untreated control sample of water had a significant amount of Aluminum - 438 ugl (ugl = micrograms or parts per billion)
-
The BioStone filtered it down to less than was detectable <30 ugl.
The U.S. EPA standard on Aluminum is .05 to 0.2 mgl or milligrams per liter. A microgram is 1/1000th of a milligram. So at 30ugl, the BioStone would filter it to less than .0030mgl - a level so small it shows in the test report as not detectable. Rather than add aluminum, as some misinformed people claim, the BioStone actually does a superb job of removing it to non detectable levels.
So we can say for certain given the structure and hardness of tourmaline, the fact it is in non-reactive and non- leaching ceramic, and the attached test results, that no aluminum is released in to the water. Further we can show with certainty that the BioStone filter actually reduces Aluminum so significantly it is below the detectable levels. Lastly the tourmaline adds benefits to the water – which is exactly why the Emco Tech Research and Development have added it to the filter.
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