This will come as a surprise to millions of homeowners that upgraded their home or bought a home because of the granite counters but some are claiming high radon levels and other problems. I was surprised by this article that stated there have been claims about granite for over a decade but may have been scoffed at as it is extremely popular. From the article:
With increasing regularity in recent months, the Environmental Protection Agency has been receiving calls from radon inspectors as well as from concerned homeowners about granite countertops with radiation measurements several times above background levels.
The older claims seem to have come from their competition and it wasn’t heeded at the time. The levels seem to be insignificant in most cases and one person put the danger on level of the chance of being struck by lightning.
William J. Llope, a professor of physics at Rice, said his preliminary results show that of the 55 samples he has collected from nearby fabricators and wholesalers, all of which emit radiation at higher-than-background levels, a handful have tested at levels 100 times or more above background.
Will this become the next mold problem, which seems to have died down, or will people ignore the possible dangers, if there are any, the way they ignore bike helmets and Nutrasweet?
photo via http://flickr.com/photos/olivepress/
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