Cinnabar is the naturally occurring mineral with mercury in combination with sulfur, and is red in color so called red mercury sulfide, Zhu Sha or China Red. Cinnabar ores are the major source for metallic mercury production. ... Other preparations containing mercury are still used as antibacterials (11).

Is cinnabar jewelry safe to wear?

No! Cinnabar is essentially non-toxic. It's a common misconception that cinnabar is highly toxic. Cinnabar is perfectly safe to use as a gemstone, you may be surprised to know.

What percent of cinnabar is mercury?

Consisting of 86.22 percent mercury and 13.78 percent sulfur, cinnabar is the most abundant of the roughly 30 mercury-bearing minerals. It is also the only ore of mercury, a very dense, silvery metal that is liquid at room temperature and forms globular droplets.