Is Granite Cancerous

Whether granite countertops could cause lung cancer due to the emission of radon gas has been a matter of some debate.

Is granite cancerous.

They are passed down from your parents. Strictly speaking granite is an. Granites can be predominantly white pink or gray in color depending on their mineralogy the word granite comes from the latin granum a grain in reference to the coarse grained structure of such a completely crystalline rock. Brennan says even a geiger counter can t detect radiation from a slab of granite from.

In fact it is the second leading cause of this disease and may be responsible for the lung cancer deaths of thousands of people in the us. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer and is estimated to cause tens of thousands of lung cancer deaths in the u s. Granite ˈ ɡ r æ n ɪ t is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. At issue is whether some granite countertops emit dangerous levels of radiation especially the gas radon which is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking.

Brenner director of the center for radiological research at columbia university in new york said the cancer risk from granite countertops even those emitting radiation above background. Cancer actually a family of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth of cells is the result of a multiple genetic mutations to several of the fail safe mechanisms. Genetic mutations happen in essentially three ways. Radon is a cancer causing natural radioactive gas that you can t see smell or taste the environmental.

Not really says mike brennan a radiation health physicist with the washington state department of health in olympia. And radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers. Radon originating from the soil beneath homes is a more common problem and a far larger public health risk than radon from granite building materials. On one side is that dangerously high levels have been found in some countertops while arguments on the other claim that the amount of radon emitted is very small relative to radon that may occur in homes otherwise.

Here is the truth about granite countertops and radiation. But marble manufacturers say flat out that radiation in granite is not dangerous.