Are diamonds poisonous?

A naturally occurring diamond does not contain any poisonous element whatsoever. Just think about it for a second: a diamond is in fact just a high density structure of carbon lattice. It contains nothing but carbon – the most organic element in the entire world – so how on earth could a diamond be poisonous? One might argue that crushed diamond powder is poisonous if you were to swallow it. However, I think that swallowing a substance doesn't automatically qualify it as being poisonous – if this were the case, then a knife, a pen and a sewing needle would also be extremely poisonous household objects! Beware!

I recommend having a look at online diamond learning guides like this 
http://www.zoara.com/learning_center to get a better idea of the various diamond properties and traits.

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As far as I am aware, diamonds used to be ground up into fine powder to be used as poison back in history. Even in its pulverized state, the unique strength and sharpness of the diamond mineral meant that it could easily tear the inner walls of the digestive tract and act as a poignant poison.

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First, let's get things straight: diamonds are NOT poisonous. Events in history made people wrongly believe that diamonds were poisonous, but this ancient diamond myth doesn't belong in today's day and age! In older days, it wasn’t so uncommon for rich people to use their diamond rings as secret containers for poison. They used to hollow out the diamond and store the poison within it, so that it could be used if and when the situation required. This could spill some light on this odd belief that diamonds were poisonous. Another more contemporary reason to why people would think diamonds are poisonous could be traced to diamond miners. These miners worked underground and would often inhale dust and debris, making them understandably more prone to get lung diseases. People also think that these miners could actually inhale diamond dust that could cause internal damage by tearing through the inner walls of the small intestine. Although these diamond particles are extremely small when they're in the form of powder, they could still cause extensive damage and even death when swallowed.

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Diamonds ground into dust can be used to poison people due to their high carbon concentration.

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I heard that this was a widely spread myth adopted by diamond mine owners because thinking that diamonds were poisonous actually worked for their advantage. The mine owners used to say that diamonds are poisonous, so that their workers wouldn't put the diamonds in their mouths (or swallow them whole) as a creative way of stealing diamond from the mines. But really, diamonds aren’t poisonous. For more info on diamond’s and their amazing characteristics go to zoara.com where you will find great learning pages with all the information you need.

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