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The EPA issued its new statements late Friday, following media reportsciting junk science and inconsistent testing results that created publicconcern about granite countertops as a source of radon gas.
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"While natural minerals such as granite may occasionally emit radon gas,the levels of radon attributable to such sources are not typically high," theEPA statement said. "EPA believes the principal source of radon in homes issoil gas that is drawn indoors through a natural suction process.
"Granite is a natural mineral formed by earth's geology," the statementcontinues. "It is mined and used to produce commercial products such ascountertops. It is possible for any granite sample to contain varyingconcentrations of uranium that can produce radon gas. Some granite used incountertops may contribute variably to indoor radon levels. However, EPA hasno reliable data to conclude that types of granite used in countertops aresignificantly increasing indoor radon levels."
The statements can be found at the EPA website, athttp://iaq.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/iaq.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=5103&p_created=1212758208&p_sid=Au1wNF9j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0yMSwyMSZwX3Byb2RzPTM3MCZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9MS4zNzAmcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1
The EPA also issued a new statement on the presence of radiation ingranite, which said: "Construction materials such as concrete, cinder blocks,bricks, and granite contain small amounts of radioactive materials that arefound naturally in the materials used to make them."
That statement can be found at the EPA website, athttp://www.epa.gov/radiation/sources/index.html#construction
Citing recent studies by university scientists and Consumer Reports, JimHogan, president of the MIA, said the new EPA statement confirms findings thathave consistently shown granite countertops pose no health risk in the home.
"Every time researchers have applied rigorous scientific standards totesting, the results have found that granite countertops pose no risk," Hogansaid. "Repeated studies have found that granite is safe. Unfortunately, somerecent junk science being reported as fact only serves to panic the public,not inform it. Our goal is to end this fear mongering by facilitating thecreation of a real scientific standard for testing granite countertops."
Two recent studies by researchers at the University of Akron and ConsumerReports found no grounds to fear granite countertops.
Consumer Reports, America's foremost consumer protection institute,recently conducted its own limited independent tests of granite countertopsand found no evidence that granite countertops pose a health risk. In fact,none of the granite countertops tested by Consumer Reports were found to beemitting radon.
According to Consumer Reports, similar findings were recently generated byother well-conducted studies of granite countertops, and those studies foundthat, of a large number of countertops tested, only a few samples emittedminute levels of radon.
Dr. L.L. Chyi, who conducted the Akron study, said, "Radon in countertopsis not an issue."
To eliminate confusion resulting from junk science or inconsistenttesting, the MIA is working with scientists and other experts to establishuniversal standards for testing granite countertops for radon emissions. Thegoal is to build a scientific consensus around testing protocols so that allresearch can be done consis
