Are granite countertops bad for your health? [Today's installment of "Everything will Kill You"]

Texas Cable News ^ | May 9, 2008

[John Jorsett]

It’s a popular upgrade for new homes, but could your granite countertop actually be a hazard to your health?

The family who agreed to have their granite countertop tested for radiation wants you to know the answer to that question.

They asked that their identity not be revealed, but they would like to share what was found at their home.

“We’re living in a world that has radiation in it. And there’s nothing that you can do to stop it. However, that’s above background. That is an enhanced source of radiation,” said Bill Llope.

Llope is a Rice University physicist.

11 News turned to him after a Houston research group discovered elevated levels of potentially dangerous gamma radiation coming from the home’s granite countertop.

Llope was asked to double check the findings.

Keep in mind, granite naturally gives off harmless forms of radiation. And that’s what most of the countertops in questions does.

“Point two millerem per hour. However, in another location the rate can be quite a bit higher,” said Llope.

On other parts of the countertop, the granite is sending off gamma radiation that can slightly increase cancer risks.

In Houston, researchers say they’ve also found unusual levels of radon gas, which the EPA says can lead to lung cancer.

[sionnsar]

Bush’s fault.

[Kimmers]

Well there ya go.....we are going to die, eventually

[sionnsar]

Bush’s fault.

If we weren't so well off we couldn't afford such things.

[sionnsar]

Maybe they’re antiseptic countertops — zap all the microbes trying to live on them.

[mewzilla]

Snort! :)

On just this subject....

[Dr.Zoidberg]

We’re all going to die.

Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, but yeah, in 120 years give or take, every last man, woman and child alive today will be dead.

Living kills!

[wizr]

Guess that’s why I am so radiant. I’m usually taken for granite.

[Bernard Marx]

If we weren't so well off we couldn't afford such things.

Yeah, we'd be building huts out of hunks of granite like our ancestors did. Of course they're even more dangerous -- they tend to collapse on you with the slightest little earthquake. I'll take my chances with counter tops.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

"potentially dangerous gamma radiation...
"slightly increase cancer risks...

Stop it! You're scaring my gerbil!

[purpleraine]

They sure are hard on the ole back. : )

[WayneS]

“Are granite countertops bad for your health?”

Only if one falls on you.

[rightinthemiddle]

I think I’ll sleep on our new countertop tonight.

[NonValueAdded]

Silly physicist, all he needs to do is wrap a thin sheet of lead over his granite countertop and voila, his radiation problem is solved!

[Enchante]

Oh, well, back to pre-formed laminated FORMICA countertops.......... who needs fancy granite anyway?

[Question_Assumptions]

Try doing a radiation check of public buildings with granite stonework on them.

[Paperdoll]

What about quartz countertops? I have them going in on my beautiful new kitchen cabinets on Monday, and I am unconcerned.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Guess that’s why I am so radiant. I’m usually taken for granite."

I know you try to come across as a modern marble, but those of us familiar with you know that you're rotten to the quartz.

[DBrow]

Slate and shale can also have radiation. In fact, pretty much anything that comes from the ground.

people contain potassium, we could not live without it, and some of the potassium in our bodies is the deadly radioactive Potassium-40.

You can have lots of fun with a Geiger counter and an anti-nuke whiner. The ceramic tiles in their floor, cinder block, granite, shale, all will make the counter chuckle. And if they have antique Fiestaware, you can cause a heart attack! Coleman lanterns, Vaseline glass vases, custard glass bowls. Some concrete sidewalks are considerably above background.

BTW at 0.2 mREM (or 20 microrem) you are nowhere near the levels you can get from flying in a commercial jet.

I think the goal should be to make all domestic radiation sources below the average to keep children safe.

[martin_fierro]

They sure are hard on the ole back.

Explanation, please.

On second thought, nevermind.

[weegee]

It IS in Bush’s “backyard”.

[LibFreeOrDie]

Hmmm... Now that every peon has a granite countertop, the kitchen fashionistas have to start a new trend to some other surface material. Perhaps a rumor, an excuse to rip out the granite and get something “green”. And trend-settingly fabulous!

[Paperdoll]

LOL! :)

[purpleraine]

If I have to splain it, you need to go into the kitchen more. Or has it been a long time?

[John Jorsett]

Now you're going to have to call a Hazmat team to take out and dispose of your old kitchen counters.

[martin_fierro]

It is May Sweeps, after all.

[PROCON]

[goodnesswins]

I LOVE the quartz countertops we have, and when we move and build....I’m going to have them installed there too....even though builders PUSH granite!

[mewzilla]

Now you're going to have to call a Hazmat team to take out and dispose of your old kitchen counters.

Along with any broken CF lightbulbs...

[mrsmel]

The whole of life and living is a balancing act between having an enjoyable life, and living long enough to actually enjoy it. That balance is different for everyone.

[DBrow]

As for risk, the BIER VI report estimates the cancer risk from 10 REMS exposure to be 1%. Lying on the countertop at 200 uREM/hour for 50,000 hours will give you 10 REM.

[Publius6961]

If we weren't so well off we couldn't afford such things.

Natural selection. I love Mother Nature...

[weegee]

http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/envis/atodoc930.html

The Monsanto Research Corporation, which operated the lab where the diving suit was developed, promoted a nuclear-powered coffee pot. Such a pot would perk for 100 years relying only on its self-contained plutonium-238 heat source. The plutonium in each pot (1/5th of an ounce) would contain 10 million lethal doses of plutonium.[2,pg.227] The project was abandoned.

[browardchad]

an excuse to rip out the granite and get something “green”

I grow grass on my countertops. It looks great, but mowing is a b-tch.

[Hacklehead]

New Hampshire must be evacuated immediately.

[weegee]

Houston PING

DON’T PANIC!!!

[WakeUpAndVote]

WINNER!

[No Truce With Kings]

“Are granite countertops bad for your health?”

Only if one falls on you.

Or you fall on one the wrong way.

[GSWarrior]

They asked that their identity not be revealed,

I don't blame them.

[Rick.Donaldson]

They asked that their identity not be revealed, but they would like to share what was found at their home.

This is bullshiite. Why don't they want to be revealed? BEcause it's how the LEFT gets away with perpetuating lies about the environment, that's why.

When you read about Global warming and see an article that says, "Scientists say..." then do not identify the scientists or the source of the information, or the quotes, they are flat out LYING. This is yet another example of some dumbassed leftist who can't afford granite counter tops and came up with some BS answer to prevent others from BUYING them.

[Rick.Donaldson]

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!

[tutstar]

gnip...

[aruanan]

On other parts of the countertop, the granite is sending off gamma radiation that can slightly increase cancer risks.

In Houston, researchers say they’ve also found unusual levels of radon gas, which the EPA says can lead to lung cancer.

Actually, the slight radiation will be good for you by stimulating DNA repair mechanisms. The states with higher background radiation (high radon states, high altitude) have lower cancer rates than other states.

[Rebelbase]

“I think the goal should be to make all domestic radiation sources below the average to keep children safe.”

Was the domestic rating considered hazardous reduced in recent years? I seem to remember a reduction which coincided with the birth of the radon gas environmental testing industry.

Convenient how that happened.

[Doohickey]

... harmless forms of radiation...

Oh? And what forms would those be?

[philled]

This concerns me greatly! If I cover my granite countertops with a layer of asbestos and then paint them with some lead-based paint will that contain the radiation?

[John Jorsett]

Actually, the slight radiation will be good for you by stimulating DNA repair mechanisms. The states with higher background radiation (high radon states, high altitude) have lower cancer rates than other states.

[Doctor Raoul]

Just eat dinner sitting on the counter top and you can save all that money you set aside saving up for a vascetomy...

[Old Professer]

Oh, Gawd, Shirley McClaine will wake you up at all hours of the night...

[DannyTN]

Quartz countertops cause time dilation. Ever had food burn in your kitchen when you thought you’d had just put it on a few minutes ago?... Quartz countertops.