A recent report carried out by the New York Times suggests
that granite countertops from people’s homes pose health risks, emitting a gas
than can cause cancer.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s explains
posted on its Website, the gas is radon, a naturally occurring, radioactive
noble gas that is colorless, tasteless and has no odor. The presence of radon
in people’s homes may actually jeopardize their health. Formed from the decay
of the extremely radioactive radium, radon affects indoor air quality,
contaminating humans by accumulating in constructions, the EPA informs.
Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers,
and the second most frequent cause of the same type of cancer after cigarette
smoking. An estimated 20,000 lung cancer deaths per year are reported in the U.S.
alone.
The level of radon in the air is measured in "picoCuries per liter of
air," or "pCi/L." In line with the Environmental Protection Agency,
4 pCi/L is the amount of radon exposure that puts people at risk, forcing them
to take safety measures. 4 picocuries is "about the same risk for cancer
as smoking a half a pack of cigarettes per day," said The New York Times. Nonetheless,
not only the amounts that are above the levels considered safe endanger the
individuals, but also the amounts lower than that.
Furthermore, the newspaper informs that: “Allegations that granite
countertops may emit dangerous levels of radon and radiation have been raised
periodically over the past decade, mostly by makers and distributors of
competing countertop materials.” According to the Marble Institute of America,
such assertions are absolutely preposterous. The institute justifies that even
though granite contains uranium and other radioactive chemical elements like
thorium and potassium, the levels in countertops are “not enough to pose a
health threat.”
As a matter of fact, health officials and radiation specialists concur that
most countertops made out of natural granite give off radon at very low levels.
These emissions are of no consequence compared with alleged background
radiation that is frequently raining down from cosmos, seeping up from the
earth's outer layer, or with radiation given off from manmade sources such as
X-rays and smoke detectors.
Over the last ten years, the demand for granite countertops has significantly increased.
Consequently, the EPA started receiving phone calls from health inspectors, as
well as from property-owners who expressed concern about the granite
countertops from their homes.
On the topic of potential health risk granite countertops
pose, it appears that their color carries some weight. "We're seeing
higher results in reds, pinks, purples. However, you've got to test them all,"
said Stanley Liebert, quality assurance director at CMT Laboratories in Clifton Park, during The Early Show on Friday.
In order to limit the exposure to the dangerous gas,
homeowners are recommended to use systems that "bring fresh air in and
exchange it with the air in the kitchen," assuring a good ventilation in
their homes. In addition to this, their granite countertops should be tested
for radon. Reasonably priced test kits can be purchased from hardware stores or
qualified testers can be hired to perform the testing.
Update: The EPA
issued its new statements late Friday, following media reports citing junk
science and inconsistent testing results that created public concern about
granite countertops as a source of radon gas.
"While natural minerals such as granite may
occasionally emit radon gas, the levels of radon attributable to such sources
are not typically high," the EPA statement said. "EPA believes the
principal source of radon in homes is soil gas that is drawn indoors through a
natural suction process.
The EPA also issued a new statement on the presence of
radiation in granite, which said: "Construction materials such as
concrete, cinder blocks, bricks, and granite contain small amounts of
radioactive materials that are found naturally in the materials used to make
them."
