Acrid Bakelite smell?

One of my new briars has what I think is a Bakelite stem: it has an acrid smell if you rub it hard with your thumb, and it will turn a rum-soaked paper towel yellow-brown if you rub it. The problem is it seems to start giving off the smell even if you're just holding it in your teeth for a few seconds. Is there any way to avoid that? I haven't smoked it yet because I don't really want to deal with that in the midst of a smoke; am I being over-cautious?

For anyone else who comes across this: I went ahead and smoked it today, and I couldn't detect the Bakelite smell at all. The tobacco totally hid it, so no worries.