Hostile Granite Showrooms Refuse to Discuss Radiation
Erica Marcus declared, “I was basically thrown out of a showroom today for mentioning radiation to the owner”. “This tells a lot about the industry knowing about what they are selling.”
Erica and her husband are shopping for granite countertops, and Erica is asking questions about radiation. They are both “serious cooks”, and they have two young children. They do not want any chance of increased radiation in their kitchen, but Erica found that granite showrooms do not welcome her questions.
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A San Francisco showroom asked Erica to leave. A South San Francisco showroom initially welcomed her questions, but the tone quickly became uncomfortable.
“Welcome, let’s talk about your concerns, but when the conversation got technical and she realized I knew more than the average customer, she pulled me off the floor and into her cubicle/office. She…admitted there would be a few stones that would register on their meter and they were for sale with nothing posted about the potential danger…” “she didn’t know the difference between radiation and radon”Cathy Woods relayed similar experiences a few months earlier. The same South San Francisco showroom told her, “It is the customer’s responsibility to know about what they buy”. A showroom in Hayward, CA told Cathy that none of their granite was more radioactive that soil or water. Some of the most radioactive granite we have found was in that Hayward showroom.
My own experiences are not unlike those of Erica and Cathy. A San Jose, CA showroom manager told me last August, “This is all propaganda from Silestone”. When I showed him radioactive Niagara Gold granite in his showroom, he insisted, “a sealer will take care of it”. As few minutes later, an assistant asked me to leave the premises.
I was back in that San Jose showroom a few months later, scanning granite for a client. The showroom staff kept me waiting nearly two hours. First, they said they had no record of the client. Then they said they could not find his granite. The manager was quite rude and seemed to prefer losing a customer, rather than allow an industrial hygienist to scan his granite.
A different showroom in Hayward, CA flatly refused to let me scan granite for a client at their site. The manager told the client, “You are not bringing your science device in here”. The client transported his slabs to the fabricator, where I conducted the scan. Two of his three slabs were more radioactive than he wanted.
I have scanned about 1000 slabs of granite since last July, when the NY Times published an article on radioactive granite. Most of those slabs emitted very little radiation. However, a small percentage emitted gamma radiation at many times background. Some of those stones contained as much uranium as uranium ore. Given a choice, most homeowners would not opt for uranium ore in their kitchens. Many granite showrooms do not give their customers the option of making that choice.
Photo by Linda Kincaid.
Related articles:
Granite Counters: Uranium Ore In Disguise?
Worries About Granite Lead to California Homes with Radon
A Rational Discussion on Radon in Granite Countertops
On February 7th, 2009 at 11:00 pm you told me that you mesured 0.564 milliR/hr, and that it is placed directly on the surface of the granite.
Now my question is. What was the reading at 1 foot?
The effective dose limit for Nuclear Energy Workers, as prescribed by the CNSC, is 100 mSv (10,000 mrem) for 5 years (with a maximum of 50 mSv in any given year or an average of 20 mSv/yr for 5 years) for whole-body exposure. For Radiation Users and “members of the public” the corresponding limit is 1 mSv (100 mrem) per year.
If you lay down on that counter 24h a day during 1 year you’ll get around 5 rem… that’s a lot, but do you know a lot of people sleeping on their counter top? Like you said, 0.564 milliR/hr was on contact… how long do you stay in contact with a counter top during the year? I bet that drinking a Coke a day is more harmful for your health then this radiation.
[...] the New York public-relations firm hired by the Marble Institute of America; her articles noted problems in dealing with granite-shop owners over on-the-spot radon testing, although another of the Website [...]
great comment dude, I think you are right
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here is the deal. i own a granite counter top shop my self. the most dangerous part of granite is during fabrication (if done dry). this whole “scare” was brought up by the companies who make quartz counter top slabs because the granite was taking over the stone industry. i would like to see someone who has had a health issue that is DIRECTLY related to granite. i just do not think anyone has. think of it like this, the day you are going to die is already determined. there is no granite out there that will change that. granite is beautiful, natural and inexpensive. if all of you GREEN people out there want something natural, buy granite
I recently bought a large historic home (13K sq ft) built around 1900. This article has me concerned because the outside exterior is all brick, with two layers of “regular” brick and an outside layer of granite brick. I don’t have any more info about the granite brick, but there is a LOT of it. I was aware of the potential for radon but not radiation. Should I be concerned and if so, how do I go about getting it tested? Thanks for your help!
Granite is safe. This is completely ridiculous. This is complete attack on granite by the bozos who make manmade prodocuts FROM NATURAL STONE. Complete hoax. Granite will compe out stronger than ever before.
No, it’s not a hoax. It’s a statistical issue.
Since some galleries won’t test, you don’t know if you have the high radon product. My solution is this. If I’m buying a house with granite, I’ll test it. If it’s high, I’ll deduct the cost of removing the granite. For countertop replacement, I’d go with the quartz unless the granite shop will replace the countertop if it tests high after installation. I don’t care if they test half their slabs and the average is ok. I don’t want that statiscally possible high radiation slab period!
Isn’t the granite shipped to America going through customs. You really think Radiation and poisonous gasses would make the cut?
People are scared about everything now a days. I used to work in granite for years, and I don’t have cancer. Because of the discounts I received, most of my house is covered in granite. I recommend granite for anyone.
I sleep with a granite nightstand inches from my head, and I am fine.
Their were annoying customers that ask3ed obnoxious questions. I am no scientist, and so when people would come in and call me ignorant and a seller of lethal material, I told them that since they aren’t customers, they are just trying to start something, I did ask them to leave. Take these complaints to someone who cares. If I thought granite was dangerous, I wouldn’t still be sleeping with granite.
Some of you people are so nice to consider sales people evil and worthy of hell. Like we take a class that tells us that giving people cancer is fun. Go jump off a cliff.
I have to agree with Heather. I’ve broke,Cut,Sanded marble and a pewtred smell came out similar to muck. I’ve been working with natural stone for years and have breathed in more dust than anyone would like to imagine. so far no wierd diseases and my hair is not falling out despite my age. If your afraid of that much radiation get rid of your microwave. FYI Quartz is a natural stone found in every granite.
Otherwise I have some butiful granite trinket boxes for sale on eBay going Cheap!