The issue of granite countertops and radon-gas emissions geared up in May, as several reports by U.S. television stations, a new not-for-profit group and a couple of scientific reports fueled the debate.
By month’s end, the public discussion led to a new effort by the Marble Institute of America to combat what it sees as unfair allegations.
The current concern about radon-gas emissions came from Houston-based BuildClean™ Inc., a new non-profit group with a stated mission, according to its Website, to educate “consumers and the building industry about safe, healthy and environmentally friendly materials.” All of the information on the site, including links to scientific abstracts, deal with radon and granite.
The group issued a news release n late March concerning possible high emissions by some granite countertops, along with a program to offer free radon testing for Houston-area homeowners, which appeared in a number of online financial-news Websites via a national media-distribution agency.
The issue received more exposure via a May 9 report by KHOU-TV – “Are Granite Countertops Bad For Your Health” – that featured comments by Sara Speer Selber, BuildClean’s president, about the study and examples of granite with high radon emissions, along with a rebuttal by MIA President Jim Hogan that, “there’s no science that indicates or tells us of any stone being sold commercially available to the public for installation that has higher than the four picocures per liter EPA standard (for radon).”
KHOU brought in Dr. Wlliam Llope, a physics professor at Houston’s Rice University, to evaluate a countertop in a Houston home with a tested elevated level of radon. He went on to look at data measured from 95 different types of granite, and then created a hypothetical room, 20’ X 10’ X 10’, with 54 ft² of countertop surface.
Llope’s study showed that 92 of the 95 granite varieties tested emitted little or no radon. Two, however, exhibited elevated radon levels, and one released over the level that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would consider dangerous in long-term exposure.
On May 14, the MIA released a study by Dr. L.L. Chyi, a geochemistry/environmental geology professor at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, examining 13 granites that “are believed to represent up to 85 percent of the granite countertop market in recent years,” according to an MIA news release.
The study found all 13 varieties emitting far less than what the EPA considers a dangerous level. Dr. Chyi’s test measured the amount of radon that would be added to a 2,000 ft² normally ventilated home with 8’-high ceilings, again with 54 ft(2) of countertop surface.
WNYT-TV in Albany, N.Y., also visited the topic on May 21 – “New Findings on Radon and Granite Countertops” – including comments by Dr. Michael Kitto of the New York State Health Department’s Wadsworth Labs. Kitto noted that he’s studied 40 granite types and found one sample giving off significantly higher radon levels than the others, and that air exchange is greater in a kitchen than in a basement, where most residential radon tests occur.
“The vast majority of the granites are not likely to be a significant contributor to the radon in your house,” Kitto said.
The KHOU report also noted that the initial funding for BuildClean is coming from two sources involved with Silestone® and Cambria®, two quartz-surface brands in competition with natural stone. On its board of directors, BuildClean’s treasurer is Peter Martin, director of marketing operations for Cambria in Eden Prairie, Minn., and the chair is Hernando Diaz-Arauzo, vice president/operations for Stafford, Texas-based C&C North America, the North American distributor of Silestone and a variety of natural stone from Spanish quarrier/producer Cosentino S.A.
On May 23, the MIA announced the creation of the Truth About Granite Fund to “help finance a campaign to stop spurious allegations attempting to link granite countertops to the threat of cancer,” according to an MIA news release.The Natural Stone Council and Cold Spring Granite Co. of Cold Spring, Minn., each contributed $5,000 to start the fund. The MIA also sent a letter in late May to its members soliciting funds.
The MIA’s Hogan noted the trade group already invested $50,000 of unbudgeted funds prior to the fund’s creation, and that amount may increase by the end of 2008.
“It is important that we have all the legal, technical, public relations and marketing/advertising tools we need to protect the good name of granite and to reassure consumers that granite is as safe as it is beautiful, durable and practical,” Hogan said.
The Truth About Granite Fund will be a special segregated account whose expenditures will be overseen by the MIA executive committee. Contributions can be sent to: Marble Institute of America/Truth About Granite Fund, 28901 Clemens Rd, Suite 100, Westlake, OH 44145.
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