Is Granite Radiation Harmful

Some granite and other natural stones contains trace amounts of uranium.

Is granite radiation harmful. It is extremely unlikely that radiation from granite countertops would increase annual radiation doses above normal natural background levels. Whether granite countertops could cause lung cancer due to the emission of radon gas has been a matter of some debate. Some granite countertops have dangerously high emissions of radiation particularly radon gas. But marble manufacturers say flat out that radiation in granite is not dangerous.

Granite is very popular as material for buildings and homes especially as kitchen countertops because of their beauty durability and function. 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. However in some instances tests have found that granite countertops give off potentially dangerous levels of radiation. Radon is a cancer causing natural radioactive gas that you can t see smell or taste the environmental.

Some pieces of granite may contain more of these elements than others. However any radiation present would decrease quickly with increasing distance from the source. Are the levels of radon in granite countertops harmful. If it emits radon it typically does so at very low levels.

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. 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 countertops are dangerous because they are radioactive and they emit poisonous radon gas. 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.

Use the radiation dose calculator to estimate your yearly dose from sources of ionizing radiation. Radioactive minerals in the granite can decay into radon a colorless odorless radioactive gas which may be released from the surface of the granite over. This phenomenon is something that even the mainstream press has begun reporting. Granite worktops cannot affect the uptake of radiation in food.