BEFORE YOU REMODEL YOUR KITCHEN

[xtldggr]

Hello Rockhounds,

Thought this might be of interest to some of you.

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

-XTLDGGR-

[fredda]

Oh GEEEZZ!! Ya think that's why my friends have been saying that I have a bit of a glow, lately? (Too old for any other reason)
Heh, heh,
fredda ;D ;D

[pcktfullofokenite]

Oh, boy I have lots of that laying around. Too bad you can't put radon to use,

[scintillator4u]

I love the sssmell of Radon! Reminds me of fiestaware... they used uranium in the orange glaze for dinner plates and bowls because it gives a bright orange fluorescent glow to the wares. I have an old plate with knife marks all over it...some poor soul had nibbled most of the glaze off.

[hodgehound]

Yikes! And using uranium on something knowing the likelyhood of it being ingested, however small an amount it may be? Scary!

[scintillator4u]

I suppose the glow you get eating it helps with the night vision. 8-)Sure is delicious...MMMMM

[gsellis]

Before you let the standard poor articles at the NYT get you worked up, read what Steve Malloy and team reported at Junk Science.

A doctor is this stupid? Sheesh! What’s Lurking in Your Countertop? - 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.

“My first thought was, my pregnant daughter was coming for the weekend,” Dr. Sugarman said. When the technician told her to keep her daughter several feet from the countertops just to be safe, she said, “I had them ripped out that very day,” and sent to the state Department of Health for analysis. The granite, it turned out, contained high levels of uranium, which is not only radioactive but releases radon gas as it decays. “The health risk to me and my family was probably small,” Dr. Sugarman said, “but I felt it was an unnecessary risk.” (New York Times)

I admit I don't much care for granite benchtops from a purely practical and aesthetic viewpoint (each to their own) but the greatest (only?) risk from these things is if they fall on you. If radon from such trivial sources is building up to hazardous levels (bloody unlikely) then you are at risk from far more serious problems, like anoxia, because your ventilation is woefully inadequate!

reported July 31 at junkscience.com/july08.html Italics are what the editor added.

[scintillator4u]

I agree. If radon builds up that bad, they do have horrible ventilation. The Morefield mine ventilates their uranium bearing shafts and the MSHA gave them the green light on Radon. They are practically made of Monazite and uranariferous zircons. If they can get it down to safe levels, anyone can.

[shannonw]

Yes, as a kitchen & bath designer, I've seen this articel. I think it's a load of hoeey. I have no problem with setting up testing standards, because hey, who knows? And we are seeing a lot more exotics coming into the market. But home air quality is affected more by other things such as how tight houses are being built today. There are homes that require an INCOMING air vent so that the range hood works properly. Of course, the lawyers must now get imvolved, which will eventually drive up stone costs for everyone (and not just for countertops - think tile, landscaping stone, etc).

Okay, I'll hop off my soapbox now.