Radon is a radioactive gas that radiates through natural material such as soil, air and granite. Any material that comes from directly from Mother Nature has radioactivity known as Naturally Occurring Radioactive Mineral “NORM”. Since radon was first discovered to be hazardous, many homeowners have begun to undergo major investigations and hiring a remediation contractor to inspect their building material to ensure that they are not being excessively exposed to it.
Is Granite Safe?
Since granite is a stone that is crafted from rock, the chance of it exuding radiation is more than likely. However, producing hazardous amounts of radon is unlikely. In a recent study performed by US EPA, there is a small percentage of radon that exudes from granite; however, they are so miniscule that trace amounts are nearly impossible to detect in most cases.
Radon exposure comes mainly from the following areas:
- Soil around House ? 9%
- Well Water ? 5%
- Outdoor Air ? 2%
- Building materials ? 5%
- Public Water Supplies ? 5%
Statistically, only 2.5% of building materials, including granite, will radiate radon ? making the safety concern minimal for any homeowner.
Testing Your Granite
Although the chances of radon exposure coming from your granite surfaces are minimal, as a homeowner, it will be vital to ensure that a test is completed. These tests, most likely, will serve best for those who find themselves in their home more often than not or have children and pets.
Performing a radon test takes minimal time, although hiring a remediation contractor may be best ? but ensuring to follow instructions is pertinent.
- Pick-up an activated charcoal granite surface test package, ensuring the package allows for multiple radon testing.
- Follow instructions on the package and setup the surface package on a granite surface and in another part of your home where granite is not present.
- After several hours or days, check the tests and record the results.
- Redo the tests, setting the activated charcoal in different areas to ensure there are no “hotspots” being tested.
- Record the results from the second data.
Upon performing the tests, the results will give you all the detailed information necessary. If the reads are nearly identical during all areas and sets, the radon is likely not radiating any radon. However, if the data points from one room to another are significantly different, there is a large chance that the granite surface is radiating radon. This when you want to employ some environmental remediation services on your home.
Why is Radon So Dangerous?
The effects of radon can be crucial and devastating if a person has long-term exposure to it. Radon is part of the decaying process of uranium, a highly radioactive substance on earth. Since radon is highly radioactive as well, not much is fully known about the substance.
Although chemists have not heavily studied the substance, the long-term damage of the substance has been studied through cases where people have had long-term exposure.
- Miners, who work heavily around radon, have a high chance of getting cancerous cells in their lungs.
- Long-term radon exposure can be carcinogenic if the soil, air or water substances radiate too much radon.
- Possible death from too much radon since radon can cause a blockage in the lungs or heart.
Radon can be deadly, especially if radon levels are entirely too high and radioactive granite can be one of the many causes. It’s important to get ahead of this and to possibly call a remediation contractor if you can.
Conclusion
Always ensure to utilize the most appropriate environmental remediation services to ensure that you get an appropriate reading on the radon in the air. The potential of the radon being emitted from granite are slim, but still likely and a remediation contractor could help with giving you the answers you need with their environmental remediation equipment.
Radon can then get into your water systems if it lingers too long and you’ll need water treatment as well. This is why it’s recommended to get an environmental remediation company anytime you move into a new home or make renovations to an existing home.