The Today Show Covers Radon in Granite Countertops...Finally

Some of us have been worrying about this for weeks. The Today Show just got around to it this morning. The conclusion of their reporting is pretty much what we've learned elsewhere a while ago. SOME granite CAN be high in radon, but most of it probably isn't. The only way to be sure is to get it tested.

They did highlight the dangers IF the granite is emitting high levels of radon or radiation and said that the granite industry is looking into pretesting every piece of granite that’s sold.

My question still is why consumers didn’t know about all of this. The entire time I was shopping for granite, over 5 years ago, I never heard a word about any dangers. I was just thrilled to be getting this gorgeous stone in my house. I absolutely would have had it screened for radon or only bought it from a place that did testing, if I had known there was an issue.

Getting granite with a Permashield type coating (that's the only way Home Depot sells it nowadays) supposedly can protect against radon exposure and resealing your countertops regularly, if they aren't permashielded, also can. But if you're worried, get it tested or test it yourself. The best way, which I didn't do, is to run a simultaneous test in the basement. THAT'S where the most radon probably is in your house and you can compare it to what's coming off your countertops in the kitchen.

So, Today Show, thanks a lot, but you're a little late.

Did My Granite Pass Its Radon Test?

I got the results back from my radon test and the good news is there is no giant radon field in my kitchen.

I tested the granite with 2 radon kits with 2 canisters each.



I placed 2 on the counter near the sink, where I spend inordinate amounts of time. I taped a square around them to help keep them in the same place over 4 days.


I put one on the center island.



And I put one on the kitchen table, which is NEAR the granite, but is NOT granite.

I resealed the little bottles and sent them off in their prepaid envelopes. Days later, I received an email report and then a report in the mail.

The one on the kitchen island measured 0.3 pCi/l (picocuries of radon per liter of air).

You start worrying at 4 picocuries and none of my canisters measured anything near that. The one nearest the sink and probably the place where I spend the most time is 0.6, still REALLY low. Interestingly, the canister close to that one was only 0.1. I'm not sure why there was any difference 12 inches apart. The one on the kitchen table, which isn't even stone, was 0.1.

Wait a second, the canister, which was sitting on a ceramic tile table (NOT stone), measured the same as the one ON granite, so I guess I REALLY have nothing to worry about.

I called my radon expert and I spoke to Mrs. Radon Expert. She said it might have been interesting to test the basement at the same time (which we did years ago when we bought the house). She said, in general, whatever you have on your first floor is half of what's in your basement, because radon always goes to the lowest part of a house. But there were no levels on the first floor that were anything to worry about, so even if I doubled them to compute the basement levels, we're okay.

What did I learn, besides the fact that I'm easily spooked? I learned that MY granite is safe, but I have no idea about YOUR granite or any other granite for that matter.

If I ever bought more granite, I might try to find a purveyor that tests its slabs for radon BEFORE they were installed and I would get a presealed granite. Home Depot, for one, now sells only "PermaShield" granite, which is presealed and requires no home maintenance EVER and presumably cuts down on any radon escaping into the air.

Note: They don't call it a sealer. They say "PermaShield® protects natural stone through a proprietary process that is unlike anything else on the market. PermaShield® is not a sealer." Whatever...I get the idea.

I don't have this fancy space-age granite, so I will certainly get my granite resealed, which may...or may not cut down on the radon risk even more, but, at least, it will look all nice and shiny.

Granite And Radon…Oy!!!

THIS is not good. The New York Times reports today that, apparently, granite countertops have been found to emit (low level, often) amounts of radiation. I not only spend many hours a day in close proximity to my granite countertops, I've been known to caress them when they look particularly fetching.

Exotic granites from faraway seem to be particular culprits. I was hoping that my Dakota Mahagony granite came from a state by that name, but not necessarily. Great...one more thing to worry about in vast of array of modern environmental concerns.

I immediately called a radon expert (go to Mitigation Services Listed by State on that site), a very helpful John Soos. He made me feel both better and worse. He said radon professionals have always known that granite countertops give higher radon readings.

If you put a radon test kit right on the source, i.e. the granite counter, the reading is higher. Every inch away from it, the reading is lower. The danger, though, isn’t from touching (or stroking, in my case) the granite, it’s from BREATHING in the gas that’s emitted from the radioactive elements in the granite.

I asked if resealing the granite could help. He said perhaps, because the radon can only travel as a gas. As the granite decays, the radon within turns into a gas and, presumably, sealing or resealing the countertop could cut the exposure.

By the way, the EPA says action is only needed above 4 picocuries, while maintaining, of course, that NO level of radon is safe.

I frankly can't believe I never heard of this before. It's not mentioned in any of the usual lists for how radon gets into your house. So does that mean that it's a bogus concern?

What to do? I’m following Mr. Soos’s advice and getting a home test kit (or two or three). I’ll see what the readings say and then I’ll call my new best friend. I’ll let you know what I find.