Is Granite Radiation Harmful

It is extremely unlikely that radiation from granite countertops would increase annual radiation doses above normal natural background levels.

Is granite radiation harmful.

While granite and other decorative stone can contain some trace natural radioactivity granite countertops are not considered to be a key contributor to radiation in the average home. If it emits radon it typically does so at very low levels. Some granite and other natural stones contains trace amounts of uranium. However many foods such as meat potatoes bananas and seafood the latter having undergone research of its own with regard to the risk to public health from radiation have plenty of harmless radioactive properties of their own derived from the soil or water in which the food.

Granite is very popular as material for buildings and homes especially as kitchen countertops because of their beauty durability and function. On one side is that dangerously high levels have been found in some countertops while arguments on the other claim that the amount of radon emitted is very small relative to radon that may occur in homes otherwise. Some pieces of granite may contain more of these elements than others. Radon is a cancer causing natural radioactive gas that you can t see smell or taste the environmental.

And other regulatory agencies have received floods of phone calls from home owners and inspectors about high levels of radiation from granite countertops. Use the radiation dose calculator to estimate your yearly dose from sources of ionizing radiation. However any radiation present would decrease quickly with increasing distance from the source. Granite countertops are dangerous because they are radioactive and they emit poisonous radon gas.

Whether granite countertops could cause lung cancer due to the emission of radon gas has been a matter of some debate. At issue is whether some granite countertops emit dangerous levels of radiation especially the gas radon which is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. Are the levels of radon in granite countertops harmful. These radioactive elements are solids but over time they may decay into radon says the environmental protection agency epa.

But marble manufacturers say flat out that radiation in granite is not dangerous. This phenomenon is something that even the mainstream press has begun reporting. Granite worktops cannot affect the uptake of radiation in food. Many homeowners are increasingly worried about the level of radiation they may be getting from their granite countertops.