Anyone have granite countertops

[Sally]

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I replaced my Corian with granite a few months ago and now I'm hearing about granite emitting radiation and radon into the air. I've read articles saying that it emits dangerous levels of radon and other articles saying it's a myth and the levels are not significant enough to harm anyone. Fuck me, I paid $6,000 for those counter tops and now I have to find someone to come out and test for radon.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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I'll have Matt ask a few builders and what not. Every house he works in has the granite here and no one seems to be worried about radon.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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You know, by now there would have been some huge outcry over this considering how many are now being used in homes all over. Matt said to give him a couple days to ask around.

If you had a radon detector installed in your home wouldn't it emit a warning?

[Sally]

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I read somewhere that the radon detectors from the home improvement stores are not reliable and a test should be done by someone who is licensed. I'm going to Lowes today to pick one up anyway.

[Twilla]

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Reminds me of the big "brick houses are radioactive!!1!!" scare in the 80s.

[LH]

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Radon levels are only appreciable from cellars that have bare dirt floors, and are built on granite ledges. Do not worry about radon, your microwave is more dangerous.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Reminds me of the big "brick houses are radioactive!!1!!" scare in the 80s.

I never heard that one! I did a quick google search for this and came up with nothing relevant to the time (1980's) but only silly things about how there is radiation all over and all that drivel.

[Twilla]

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Background radiation exposure for a person living in a brick house in Denver, Colorado is approximately three times larger than the exposure of a person living in a wooden home in Palo Alto, California. The factors that contribute to the increased background exposure for the person in Denver include the:

1. High elevation of Denver (more cosmic ray muons reach the ground in Denver)
2. Rock structures in the two areas (more radon in Denver)
3. Bricks in the house contain traces of radioactive elements, whereas wood contains very little.

http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/theory/radiation.html

The 80s was my own spin on this since that's when I heard about it so often. I doubt there'd be any 80s link online at this late date.

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Ah OK.... that explains why I couldn't find any "80's" stories. That was one of the links I came across too.

[Rhubarb]

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There is a high radon level in Cornwall because it is Granite based. To be honest no one there is too worried and you would need to have huge amount of stone work in the house to even know it was there. Aluminium in the water is a bigger problem there, believed to cause the higher percentage of Dementia