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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What doesn’t kill us?
Plastic bottles.
Teflon.
Sun tans.
Whatever
Wow- So that's why I didn't choose granite. I knew there was a reason, besides cost and care. Interesting. Something to research before my kitchen remodel.
Sad about the mold, though. I am a mold survivor and still fighting to regain my health after eight long and painful years of suffering. We have a thing about well- built houses and understand that the structure of the house is more important than the pretty granite counters, so our houses have always been safe. Sadly, THPRD does not think the same about maintaining their buildings, and it was exercising at their leaky Cedar Hills Rec Center that nearly killed me. They did finally patch the roof- seven years later- but I know they did nothing about the mold in their walls and ceilings, because they simply don't care.
We moved to get away from the moldy rec center in 2007, and even after explaining to agents that NO WATER DAMAGE was allowed, we still were shown 5 homes with visible mold by the listing agents. We are now happy in our 1960's home, which is solid as a rock and was very well maintained by the original owners, who now live two doors down and are once again taking excellent care of their home (we may buy that one, too!)
It is very sad that the government (and Beaverton and Washington County) do not have programs to help those that were taken ill by or are living or working in moldy situations. If you go online, you can read posts from Beaverton apartment dwellers who are stuck in moldy apartments with no legal recourse. Bleach is not the answer, but that is what they are told to do, which will only make the mold worse and the people sicker. Education, proper building practices and proper building maintainence is the key. But in the meantime, we are stuck with cheaply-built houses that mold the first year (but have granite counters!), and schools that make our kids sick. We have really messed-up priorities.
Wow- So that’s why I didn’t choose granite. I knew there was a reason, besides cost and care. Interesting. Something to research before my kitchen remodel.
Sad about the mold, though. I am a mold survivor and still fighting to regain my health after eight long and painful years of suffering. We have a thing about well- built houses and understand that the structure of the house is more important than the pretty granite counters, so our houses have always been safe. Sadly, THPRD does not think the same about maintaining their buildings, and it was exercising at their leaky Cedar Hills Rec Center that nearly killed me. They did finally patch the roof- seven years later- but I know they did nothing about the mold in their walls and ceilings, because they simply don’t care.
We moved to get away from the moldy rec center in 2007, and even after explaining to agents that NO WATER DAMAGE was allowed, we still were shown 5 homes with visible mold by the listing agents. We are now happy in our 1960′s home, which is solid as a rock and was very well maintained by the original owners, who now live two doors down and are once again taking excellent care of their home (we may buy that one, too!)
It is very sad that the government (and Beaverton and Washington County) do not have programs to help those that were taken ill by or are living or working in moldy situations. If you go online, you can read posts from Beaverton apartment dwellers who are stuck in moldy apartments with no legal recourse. Bleach is not the answer, but that is what they are told to do, which will only make the mold worse and the people sicker. Education, proper building practices and proper building maintainence is the key. But in the meantime, we are stuck with cheaply-built houses that mold the first year (but have granite counters!), and schools that make our kids sick. We have really messed-up priorities.