Granite Countertops: Radiation,Radon Gas

Jim Lee, REALTOR, CRS

RE/MAX Shoreline - Portsmouth, NH

Buying or Selling? Ann & Jim are the local experts

There's radiation and then there's RADIATION. Living about 15 miles from Oak Ridge, Tennessee where the US works on it's nuclear weapons we get more than passing knowledge about radiation and how it works.

For example UV radiation from the sun and radon gas from the earth have both been present literally from day 1. Neither are particularly harmful except in large doses.

Lots of construction materials like cinder blocks, bricks, and granite, have trace amounts of radioactive materials that are found naturally in the materials used to make them.

Somehow I don't think Home Depot and others would be selling so much of this stuff if there was a threat to be concerned with.

Jul 28, 2008 09:32 AM

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Jeffrey Molloy

Check Mark - Westchester Home Inspections - Mount Kisco, NY

As many of you are already aware this is not the first time this issue has come up and, like many professionals in the area I have received about 10 requests for testing in the last few days. 3 tests are back and None had any real elevation. Averaging only about .5 pCi/L, these results are encouraging. This group also included a very recent "Brazillian" slab. So as the results come back I'll let you know what's happening.

We must also remember that while radiation from Uranium decay which ultimately results in Radon Gas production is not measured by our testing methods. So harmful effects from the amount of Radiarion that one is subject to can of course be far different than the effects of Radon Gas we might inhale.

I dont have Granite in my kitchen yet but I am going to install it next year

Aug 04, 2008 10:16 AM

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Anonymous

Merryck Leigh

I would encourage you to look at this letter from an unsolicited source whose credentials appaer to be first class. If you go the the Health Pysics Societies web site you can access the calculatiosn behide the statemenst as they have done the math.

The evidence being put out there appears to be anecdotal and the Marble Institute of America has yet to have any credible evidence presneted to it that the allegations can be substantiated.

Radon and radiation is nothing new and what makes the HPS letter significant is that they are physicists who deal with the issues surrounding radiation and hazards arising from radiation. Mr Toohey is teh President of teh society and he categorically denounced the issue as being grossly misrepresented. Also each state has a Radon department which is part of the EPA and whose job it is to deal with hazards arising from radon. Again dont take my word for it - they can be googled easily. It is well documented that the principal source of Radon is the soil and groundwater. The issue of granite emitting radiation is also well documented - Grand Central Station being a case study on its own.

All in I believe that the Marble Institute of America is re-examining the issue as iut has every time this has been raised in teh last 10 years or so. Again they have yet to see any credible evidence that a significant hazard exists.

http://hps.org/documents/nyt_countertop_toohey-response.pdf

Aug 14, 2008 07:23 AM

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#3

Anonymous

Nick Maceus

Oct 02, 2008 02:02 AM

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#4

Anonymous

Al

We know Toohey, the guy that wrote that HPS letter. Read their letter carefully, they based the Radon from radiation measurements, a real no no. They also found an 80 uR/hr gamma granite slab, but lowered the level first to 20 uR/hr, then to 10 ur/hr for their calculations. Their reason was that they thought their Geiger counter was overreacting to the radiation from the 20 uR/hr granite.

However, Dr. Llope also had a long email exchange with Toohey, who agreed that in fact only 2 to 3 percent of the radiation coming off the typical granite slab can be measured with a hand held meter. This is due to the high electron vollt levels, so powerful that most of the radiation doesn't stop in the meter to make a "click", instead it blows right through the meters case.

As to Home depot or Lowes selling dangerous stuff, what the New York Times story didn't say was that the contractor that built that home was diagnosed with lung cancer after two years and two months exposure to that Shivakasi granite countertop. Home depot paid a large settlement in that case.

Which is why the non profit BuildClean.org was started by Sensa (natural stone importer) and Cambria, a quartz company, to reasure Lowes that the products they would be selling would be safe. Along the way, this thing got a bit out of control due to some very hot granite samples being delivered to the researchers hired to do the study, which actually stopped the publication of the original study, when the researcher realized he had been given fairly low level granites to test. Dr. Kitto has since reopened his study and included some seriously hot granite samples provided by our organization, solidsurfacealliance.org/blog. Most of us in the group also fabricate granite, but we test so we don't wind up being sued one of these days.

It is absolutely insane to sell the hotter granites, say from 5 to 200 times normal background radiation levels.

Another point, please don't say that this issue is about Brazilian granites, the hot ones come from all over the world. And even the worst offending colors can have safe slabs available.

Lastly, at the last AARST Radon conference, they along with the CRCPD started the committies to set testing protocols and maximum limits for both Radon and radiation in granite countertop materials, so they in no way dismissed this issue.

For more info go to solidsurfacealliance.org/blog for the latest info on the testing effort and go to forum.solidsurfacealliance.org if you have questions on the subjects.

Oct 12, 2008 03:02 PM

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#5

Anonymous

Al

http://forum.solidsurfacealliance.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=98

The link above is to info on our full scale Radon test. An 8' x 8' x 12' room with 18 square feet of granite countertop. So far, the maxium Radon level has been a bit over 10 pCi/L, which is equivalent to smoking 1 1/2 packs a day.

Sign up at our forum if you have questions or are looking for a tester. We connect homeowners to people willing to test, that have the proper equipment. Sometimes a simple scintillator or geiger counter test will suffice.

Dec 21, 2008 06:03 AM

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#6

Jason Rose

123 ConEd LLC -- Michigan real estate continuing education - Farmington Hills, MI

www.123ConEd.com

Granite is a naturally occurring igneous rock, meaning that it was formed by the cooling of molten rock. It is quarried and processed to produce commercial products such as countertops. It is possible for any granite sample to contain varying concentrations of uranium that can produce radon gas, a source of alpha and beta particles and gamma rays. Some granite used for countertops may contribute variably to indoor radon levels.

While natural rocks such as granite may emit radon gas, the EPA believes that the levels of radon attributable to such sources are not typically high. According to the EPA, the principal source of radon in homes is soil gas that is drawn indoors through a natural suction process. At this time, the EPA does not believe sufficient data exists to conclude that the types of granite commonly used in countertops are significantly increasing indoor radon levels.

Most people do not know this, but radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and is believed to be responsible for an estimated 21,000 deaths per year.

I'm writing from Michigan. According to the CDC, more than 600 radon-related deaths are projected to occur in Michigan this year alone. According to the EPA, one in eight homes in Michigan is expected to have an elevated indoor radon level, and in some counties more than 40% of the homes are expected to have a problem. The only way to know if YOUR home has a problem is to test.

If you are a real estate professional, radon and indoor air is something you should know about. It is a serious health risk, but there are simple and inexpensive ways to test for it and fix it if necessary. Like any health risk today, it is something that more and more people know about either through a home sale or through the media.

This is such an important issue for real estate professionals that I'm in the process of preparing a continuing education course exclusively on radon for my online continuing education school. The course will inform Michigan real estate professionals all about radon and what they need to know in order to properly advise buyers and sellers.

Feb 18, 2009 11:28 PM

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Anonymous

dd

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Jun 11, 2009 01:41 AM

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#8

Anonymous

dd

I’ve tried this cleaner before on my countertops <ahref="http://rejuvenate.tv/countertop.php"> it makes cleaning countertops so much easier</a>

Jun 11, 2009 01:42 AM

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#9

Anonymous

Mr. Countertops

Well everybody should read about the truth of raidon on granite by going to marble instituite of america. They have all the information about this matter! you can also visit http://www.innovatestones.com or http://www.tsstone.com to read more! i hope this helps! see you later

Aug 03, 2010 10:07 AM

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#10

Anonymous

Mr. Countertops

Well everybody should read about the truth of raidon on granite by going to marble instituite of america. They have all the information about this matter! you can also visit http://www.innovatestones.com or http://www.tsstone.com to read more! i hope this helps! see you later

Aug 03, 2010 10:07 AM

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#11

Anonymous

Quartz Countertops in New jersey

visit http://www.tsstone.com and http://www.innovatestones.com

Jan 09, 2011 02:03 AM

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#12

Granite Countertops: Radiation,Radon Gas

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