Granite countertops emitting radon / radioactivity

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Granite countertops emitting radon / radioactivity Fri25 Jul 2008 10:06:34 -0400

 

What's Lurking in Your Countertop? July 24, 2008

 

SHORTLY before Lynn Sugarman of Teaneck, N.J., bought her summer home in Lake George, N.Y., two years ago, a routine inspection revealed it had elevated levels of radon, a radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. So she called a radon measurement and mitigation technician to find the source.

 

"He went from room to room," said Dr. Sugarman, a pediatrician. But he stopped in his tracks in the kitchen, which had richly grained cream, brown and burgundy granite countertops. His Geiger counter indicated that the granite was emitting radiation at levels 10 times higher than those he had measured elsewhere in the house...

 

....The granite, it turned out, contained high levels of uranium, which is not only radioactive but releases radon gas as it decays...

 

....The E.P.A. recommends taking action if radon gas levels in the home exceeds 4 picocuries per liter of air (a measure of radioactive emission); about the same risk for cancer as smoking a half a pack of cigarettes per day. In Dr. Sugarman's kitchen, the readings were 100 picocuries per liter. In her basement, where radon readings are expected to be higher because the gas usually seeps into homes from decaying uranium underground, the readings were 6 picocuries per liter. [snip]

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/garden/24granite.html