Comments on: Testing Your Home and Granite Countertops for Radon Gas

By: radon bergen

radon bergen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 11:57:59 +0000

Sounds good that radon testing is not out of reach now-a-days. We may have a kit and test ourselves. While this dangerous gas leading significant health risk we must control it. We need a risk free life.

By: Al Gerhart

Al Gerhart — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:40:53 +0000

Good article, well balanced with emphasis where it should be, on the side of safety.

Some of the comments from the public though need addressing.

“To raise your overall chance of cancer 1% you would have to breath air contaminated at the limit of 4pCi/L continuously for 44 years.”
Of course it is ridiculous to depend on an uranium company for unbiased info, and the EPA equates 4 pCi/L to smoking a half pack of cigarettes a day.
And the banana dodge. Bananas won’t register using a scintillator, even if you jam the thing in the pile of bananas at Wal Mart. I know of one researcher that found a way to get a reading, he burned 100 pounds then measured the ashes.

Jon, do really believe the granite industry is any more reliable than a uranium company? Take a look at this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O64BW-K83n0&feature=related

Theresa,
testing for radiation can be easily done at a slab yard, but Radon testing is cumbersome. You have to use multiple meters sealed under accumulators and even then you might easily miss the worst emitting spots.
We have a ton of information on the issues, including actual granite testing in a sealed radon room. This weekend has fairly calm weather and the room is above 20 pCi/L, from 36 square feet of low radiation granite. The experts once said that low radiation stone was safe, but the testing done the last year has shown us otherwise, which is why we first tested some fairly hot stone, then removed it and tested low level stone (average 26.6 uR/hr with 6 uR/hr being the background radiation). That is like smoking 2 1/2 packs a day.

The most dangerous stones almost always have uranium mines nearby, sometimes a mile away.
for more info go to
forum.solidsurfacealliance.org

By: Theresa Dluhy

Theresa Dluhy — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:09:23 +0000

Is there any way to test a granite slab at the yard before purchase to see if it is contaminated? This is a valid question as it seems there is quite a wide range of readings from undedectable to extremely dangerous. I wonder if anyone has done research as to where the high emissions slabs were mined, etc. It is a shame to have to damn an entire stone if it is just from a localized area. I am planning on replacing my kitchen countertops and love the look of granite but would like to test the slab before, not after, the expense.

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:24:31 +0000

We recently purchased a home which had a radon reading of 8.3. The home was built in 2004. Needless to say we included the installation of a mitigation system in our purchase agreement. The cost of the system is $1475.00 in the Midwest. The home inspector said at the level found in our home, it was equivalent to having 400 chest x-rays per year. Not sure I believe all the lung cancer/radon hype either but since we were able to get it included in the sale at the seller’s expense we felt it was a good precaution to take.

By: Clever Dude

Clever Dude — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:11:17 +0000

@Jon, that was definitely an interesting video and helps allay my fears, but then again, it seems we’re caught in a war from two parties. If anything, I at least tested the home in general for radon and my results were good.

By: Jon Kepler

Jon Kepler — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:47:41 +0000

I just watched this video. I understand that it could easily be biased, but it seems to make sense:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XTSdRn-WbQ

By: Step3

Step3 — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:42:08 +0000

While radon exposure can be a concern, for most homes it will not be an issue. As you mentioned, radon is a heavy gas and will collect in basements, but keeping the area ventilated will disperse the gas. It would seem reasonable to do the test under the conditions in which you keep the room. Sealing it up to perform the test will cause the test to be artificially high. Radon is predominantly present in areas where there are mountains and granite (such as the north east region of the United States), and is dependent on the weather and soil since it is emitted from the decay of uranium in the mountains. If an air pocket is trapped in a valley for example, it could raise the levels of radon in that valley temporarily. Usually this is less than 1pCi/L. The amount in your counter tops is insignificant by comparison. To raise your overall chance of cancer 1% you would have to breath air contaminated at the limit of 4pCi/L continuously for 44 years: http://www.wise-uranium.org/rdcrn.html . I work in a nuclear plant, so maybe I’m biased, but most people are under educated about radiation. By the way, a banana has more radioactivity than your basement due to natural Potassium-40.

By: Susy

Susy — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:49:24 +0000

We tested our basement and we have radon. We’re looking into how to deal with it most effectively. I’m not sure I really believe the radon=lung cancer theories. I’m sure all the VOC’s in paint and glues in homes also can cause problems. But we’ll fix it just in case. Ours is just above the limit, when I wrote the EPA they said, “You might consider to having it mitigated”.

You have to make sure the windows aren’t open and it’s a certain heigth. I wonder how accurate those tests really are?