Apparently, even if your floors are bamboo and your finishes low-VOC, that luxury condo may be giving you cancer anyway. The cause is that ubiquitous must-have mostly used for holding take-out containers: the granite countertop. “It’s not that all granite is dangerous,” a radon-detection technician was quoted in the New York Times. “But I’ve seen a few that might heat up your Cheerios a little.” Granite, particularly the varieties imported from Brazil and Namibia, can release both radon and radiation, according to reports and analysis by the Department of Health. The radiation/radon claim is fervently denied by the Marble Institute of America, which claims it’s “ludicrous” and perpetuated by competing materials manufacturers and makes of radon-detecting technologies. They have released their own study to refute marble’s danger.
July 25th, 2008 | Alex Padalka | 4 comments | Continued