Radon Gas & Granite Countertops

[Bud Cline]

Marble Institute Of America Files Complaint Against Minnesota Firm

CLEVELAND, OH, October 22, 2007— The Marble Institute of America, a world-wide trade organization representing the natural stone industry, has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection against Home Safety Systems of Stillwater, MN citing gross….


Marble Institute of America: Press Room - MIA Press Releases



Home Safety Systems provides scientific data (proof) that many granite countertops do produce enough radon gas to contribute to dangerous radon gas levels in the home.
What's the Truth?
· Recent scientific tests have shown that certain granites do produce enough radon gas to affect your Health, particularly when combined with existing indoor radon levels.
· All homes should be tested for radon gas.
· All granite and other igneous rocks contain radon produced from Uranium in various levels.
The Data.
Respected Department of Health scientist, Michael Kitto and School of Public Health scientist, John Green have been measuring the amount of radon gas that granite emits into the air using "continuous and integrating radon monitors and in air collected from encapsulated pieces of the countertops."
In summarizing their studies they have reported that "a majority of the countertops emitted a measurable amount of radon" gas.
Throughout the study, "eight tiles of granite" were collected from a "local company that cuts and installs granite slabs as kitchen countertops.
Additionally, the report states that "some granite countertops have the potential to influence indoor radon levels."

Here's the Home Safety website and the full story of their response:

News

[Danny Ferguson]

Who would have thought Bud? Which granites put out the most? We do alot of Baltic Brown, Black Galaxy, Uba Tuba, Gaileo Van, and Absolute Black.

[NumbersBoy]

Interesting. Thank You, Bud.
It will be a while before we get the whole story.
I'm taking the info w/ a grain of salt for now, though. The company that's telling us about this possible source of radon gas, sells radon gas detection devices. ("The sky is falling. Would you like to buy a hardhat?"). I will follow this story, but reserve judgement until an impartial organization looks into this.
Thanks Again!
N.B.

[Bud Cline]

I first saw an article in the January 2008 issue of the Slippery Rock Gazette. If you deal with the fine Braxton-Bragg company then you know the Gazette. The magazine contains articles and humor from the B-B people and can be a very informative publication.

I was surprised, this is the first I have heard of such an issue with granite so I investigated a little. At first I too was suspicious of the Home Safety Systems company and also thought they had ulterior motives in making such accusations, I still think that is the case.

I suppose we should wait to see what comes of it. Sounds ludicrous to me. I am confident that MIA will get to the bottom of it.

[Lo Down]

Originally Posted by Bud Cline Marble Institute Of America Files Complaint Against Minnesota Firm CLEVELAND, OH, October 22, 2007— The Marble Institute of America, a world-wide trade organization representing the natural stone industry, has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection against Home Safety Systems of Stillwater, MN citing gross…. Marble Institute of America: Press Room - MIA Press Releases Home Safety Systems provides scientific data (proof) that many granite countertops do produce enough radon gas to contribute to dangerous radon gas levels in the home. What's the Truth? · Recent scientific tests have shown that certain granites do produce enough radon gas to affect your Health, particularly when combined with existing indoor radon levels. · All homes should be tested for radon gas. · All granite and other igneous rocks contain radon produced from Uranium in various levels. The Data. Respected Department of Health scientist, Michael Kitto and School of Public Health scientist, John Green have been measuring the amount of radon gas that granite emits into the air using "continuous and integrating radon monitors and in air collected from encapsulated pieces of the countertops." In summarizing their studies they have reported that "a majority of the countertops emitted a measurable amount of radon" gas. Throughout the study, "eight tiles of granite" were collected from a "local company that cuts and installs granite slabs as kitchen countertops. Additionally, the report states that "some granite countertops have the potential to influence indoor radon levels." Here's the Home Safety website and the full story of their response: News

Check this one out.
Radon Gas Kills: Radon Information, Radon Links, and Radon News

[Bud Cline]

In the above post by Lo Down I meant to click on "Post Reply" and accidentally clicked on "EDIT", lost my head for a second.

Check this one out. Radon Gas Kills: Radon Information, Radon Links, and Radon News

Even in those comments there is nothing to substantiate the claims either way. It seams now that all this was started by a manufacturer of solid surfacing countertops.

[Tandy Reeves]

Sounds like some bogus carpet testing where a bunch of mice died. Cost the carpet industry a chunck of money to disprove the flawed testing. However, the damage was done and the testing agency had their three minutes of fame.

[kwfloors]

I bet that the countertops don't emit radon forever tho if it is a fact that they do.

[FPU Guy]

This is why having air purifier machines in our energy efficient homes is important. Radon has been around longer than houses, but until we made them so tight they do not breathe (my mechanic that has to open his French doors to get enough air to light his fireplace and get it rolling), now we have sick building syndrome and IAQ worse than OAQ, even with all of the pollution emitted outside.

Radon is linked to granite, we had a bathroom in the basement of our first house and they did not seal the concrete in the floor where they put in the plumbing. The house was sitting on a bed of granite and the hole they left open for the plumbing was right where the radon was coming up; lucky for us, it was near the stairs and a closet above this so they had no problem putting the radon evac system right by the source and no one knew it was there without opening a closet.

We also have houses built over old landfills and the methane emitting from these are just as much of a concern. If they do not vent it out properly, it can build up like air in a silo and blow or go off without warning too. We just had a farmer lose a silo here from this and by the time the FD got there, it was like a mobile home, it was engulfed in minutes and no way to save it.

[Bud Cline]

Hotlines

1-800-SOS-RADON (1-800-767-7236)
Operated by the National Safety Council in partnership with EPA to order radon test kits.

1-800-55RADON (1-800-557-2366)
Operated by the National Safety Council in partnership with EPA, for live help with radon questions.

1-800-844-8999
Radon Fix-It Hotline, operated by the National Safety Council in partnership with EPA for information on how to mitigate your home.

1-888-523-3187
Radon Hotline in Spanish, operators can be reached 9:00am to 5:00pm to assist with information about radon, or ordering a radon test kit.

1-800-426-4791
Safe Drinking Water Hotline, operated under contract to EPA. For information on testing, treatment, radon in water, and drinking water standards.

EPA Regional Offices

Check Where You Live | Indoor Air Quality | Air | US EPA for a listing of your EPA Regional office.


A Citizen's Guide to Radon | Publications | Radon | Indoor Air Quality | Air | US EPA

[Huligar]

In what seems to be a genuine concern of the effects of radon emissions in residential homes. A certain website from a non-profit organization out of Houston has made it a point to imply without scientific proof, that natural stone could be a major contributor of radon in a household.

The allusion that seems to be made, that natural stone installed in your home is dangerous to your health is raised repeatedly on the website and in a recent local Houston TV news program.
It’s interesting to note that the two major contributors of this non-profit organization are manufacturers of engineered stone. One of those contributing manufacturers has a marketing executive on the board of directors of this particular organization.


From what may be perceived on the surface as perhaps another “going green” ad campaign, seems to be a different slant on the ongoing battle of the engineered stone manufacturers against natural stone.

Keep in mind that granite as does most natural components found in building material, allows vapors to pass through them that might contain trace amounts of radon. There are very small amounts of uranium found in trace minerals such as biotite in some natural stones. When quarried if a large cluster of biotite is exposed the result initially would be a radon reading. However, once a piece of granite or natural stone exposed to a large amount of uranium rich mineral in the ground is removed from the source and exposed to the air, the radon vapor transmission would weaken drastically and then dissipate. Simply put, think of natural stone as a very dense sponge that allows water, air and yes radon to pass through the stone. Once the stone is removed from the source of radon (the earth) the stone has no radon to filter through it.
We do endorse Radon testing but to allude that natural stone is a main contributor seems ludicrous.

Here are some facts about Radon: Indoor Radon Progam and Granite-Tops The Upper Midwest's Premier Fabricator of the World's Finest Stone - Truth about Granite & Radon

[TFP Admin]

Huligar,

Your first message and I had to severely edit it because of the copyright issues you mangled. I searched Google and found several websites that contain portions of your post. The only one that had your name on it was what I left - and even that is suspect. I replaced much of your post with the 2 links that contain most of what you posted. There's more sites, but I don't like to work that hard - so don't make me.

I appreciate your concerns and desire to bring this issue to light. But you agreed to our rules when you joined and you must follow them, or you will not be able to use what we have to offer here. I would not like to have to edit another of your messages.

Oh yeah, don't be slipping in links to websites that have no relevance to the anchor text.

TFP Admin

[Bill Vincent]

Originally Posted by Tandy Reeves Sounds like some bogus carpet testing where a bunch of mice died. Cost the carpet industry a chunck of money to disprove the flawed testing. However, the damage was done and the testing agency had their three minutes of fame.

Exactly. I've been going back and forth for weeks now with some yahoo that has a fabricating shop, and loves the solid surface countertops for some reason. EVERY SINGLE STUDY that he's quoted, can be traced back to the solid surface industry. Supposedly some big study is going to release their findings tomorrow, but he won't say who it is that's doing the study, or who it is that's funding it. And I don't buy (a non-profit organization". It may be. That doesn't mean they're not slanted like a bigtime drunk.

No one will convince me this isn't a bunch of horsehockey.

Bill,
I have never posted a study done by the solid surface industry. What I have posted were studies done by scientists around the world on the granite/Radon/radiation issue.

The event tomorrow is not a release of a study. Even better, proof for those who refuse to admit the facts.

Al Gerhart

[Bill Vincent]

Here are a couple of threads that should make for interesting reading on the subject:

Granite countertops dangerous? - Kitchens Forum - GardenWeb

radiation in granite countertops Part2: response - Kitchens Forum - GardenWeb

This one started out about sealing granite, and then got hijacked:

Back with Question on Sealing Granite ? - Kitchens Forum - GardenWeb

And then this one that's kind of all over the map, but some supposed references in here that supposedly point to granite being the new Chernobyl:

the radon thing - Kitchens Forum - GardenWeb

The post in between the two I just posted (this one and the prior one) I'm assuming is that Yahoo.

Al, forget about it. At Gardenweb, you were dealing mostly with homeowners and KDs. Over here, most of those posting are pros and inspectors. Push your crap somewhere else. It's not going to fly here.

And I never said they were done by the solid surface industry. I said they were funded by them, and I should probably add that that includes organizations with an interest in the solid surface industry.... or as shown by one of the articles above, manufacturers of radon detectors.