OK, this one I’m actually kind of pissed off about, mostly ’cause it might end up costing me some money.

It turns out that some granite countertops contain uranium, producing gamma ray radiation and radon gas. Srsly, that’s pretty bad. Of course, as with most environmental health concerns, regardless of where you are on earth, you’re going to be exposed to some amount of radiation and radon—can’t get away from it. Small amounts of it are “background noise”, so to speak, and do not contribute meaningfully to health problems. The goal, though, is to reduce it to the lowest possible dose.

I’ve read that most granite does emit radiation and radon, but that it’s at such small amounts that it’s not a problem (and remember, even without that pretty countertop, your exposure won’t go to nil). However, in some cases, the granite is seriously smokin’, emitting fairly high levels of radiation and filling homes with cancer-causing radon. Not cool.

I have a year-old home with beautiful, black, expensive granite countertops. I’m going to be ordering radon tests to check whether I need to be shopping for new, decidedly less expensive countertops. I am in an area of the country with very low natural radon levels (yay, otherwise sucky clay soil!), so elevated levels would most likely indicate a problem with my counters. Even so, I plan on testing in at least two spots—the kitchen and the living room—to see if levels in the kitchen differ from levels in other spots. If you’re in a region with higher levels of radon, you might want to test three spots for comparison reasons.

So, to recap:

Most granite emits teeny amounts of radiation and radon, but not enough to elevate health risks.

Some granite counters may produce enough radiation and radon to pose a health hazard (one article quotes the industry as saying ~15%).

Gamma ray radiation and radon are definitely health hazards, significantly raising the risk of developing one (or more!) of a myriad of cancers.

Sucks.

Psst—didn’t go off on the cell phone stuff (oh noes! brain cancer!), because that’s actually been out a while, it’s just that some hot shot decided to weigh in. Long story short: the jury’s still out.

FoxBusiness: Granite Industry Craps its Pants

Houston Chronicle: Granite countertops may cause you harm.