On Monday, the Natural Stone Council (NSC) declared its full support for utilizing granite as a perfectly safe indoor material. This new announcement comes to reinforce the results of an independently organized study, funded by the Marble Institute of America (MIA), and recently released statements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Monday’s NSC comment follows last week’s New York Times’ report, which said that granite countertops present uranium; the metallic element can give off radon, which is said to be increasing one’s chances to develop cancer.

According to EPA officials however, there is no reliable evidence pointing to the fact that granite countertops are in any way dangerous. L.L. Chyi, a Ph.D. and professor of Geology and Civil Engineering at the University of Akron in Ohio, said that having taken test results and EPA standards into account, the following conclusion has been reached: there is no threat whatsoever posed by granite countertop surfaces to homeowners.

The 13 granites analyzed within the study are some of the most commonly used countertop surfaces in the US: Absolute Black, Baltic Brown, China Black, Crema Bordeaux, Dakota Mahogany, Giallo Ornamental, Giallo Veneziano, New Venetian Gold, Santa Cecilia, Tan Brown, Tropic Brown, Ubatuba and Yellow Star.

John Mattke, co-chair of the NSC and Chairman of the NSC's Sustainability Committee, said that although rumors regarding the potential dangers of granite usage have been going around for years, the facts have remained the same: no scientific evidence connecting granite to any sort of health problems has been found yet.