Saturday, August 09, 2008

Granite Countertops And Radiation

Again, this is another example where a popular media decided to do their own "science" investigation, but doing it irresponsibly.

It seems that the New York Times reported a finding of an elevated levels of radon and radiation from granite countertops that are popularly found in many kitchens. How they think they can get away with making claims like that without being subjected to scientific scrutiny, I have no idea. As expected, the Health Physics Society has responded to the article.

When will these popular media ever learn that science isn't done in between the pages of their publications?

Zz.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

And the Health Physicist Society will be retracting that statement very soon.

Pental Granite and Marble said...

Sorry, they haven't retracted it. Many other scientific communities agree with HPS as well.

Granite is a natural material that humans have lived with for a long time. I’d suggest reading facts about granite in the linked articles from the EPA and HSP (especially the letter to the editor of the NY Times) on my blog:

http://safegranite.blogspot.com

Peter Pental

Anonymous said...

Okay, why would anyone believe what a granite company said on this issue? You guys have told us for many years that there were nothing to these claims. Were you ignorant then or did you know and lied to consumers? Either way, the stone industry's credibility is blown.

If this is all a bunch of hoohey, why are AARST (Radon Scientists), CRCPD (state radiation officials group), and ASTM (material standards worldwide group) all looking into these issues?

Humans have lived with granite for a long time, and they have lived with cancer for a long time as well.

Here is the latest info on the controversy. forum.solidsurfacealliance.org

Anonymous said...

Here is a link to a Radon test on granite, with over 10 pCi/L of Radon being emitted. About like smoking 1 1/2 packs a day according to the EPA info


http://forum.solidsurfacealliance.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=98

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing the information about the granite. But I read somewhere that all the granite stones are not harmful.