Gas Bags

June 6, 2007

   The scientifically correct and common-sense answer is no. But, there are plenty of consumers who don’t know that. And, we’re going to have to tell them.
   Again.
   The issue concerns radon gas, and … OK, I just heard the groans of several thousand people in the stone trade when they hear the word radon. We’ve been through this before, but we’re seeing another repeat performance this year.
   A quick history lesson: The radon-gas brouhaha came up in the mid-1990s, when Solid Surface magazine ran an unbylined piece, “Granite & Radon,” that floated the notion of possible harm from radon-gas emissions from granite countertops. The Marble Institute of America (MIA) responded with a technical bulletin and scientific commentary to squelch the notion that a piece of Uba Tuba near the sink is going to kill you.
   The radon ploy keeps making appearances every few years, mainly through the magic of the Internet and its chain-letter-like ability to keep any notion alive. However, the latest bit came from Home Safety Systems of Stillwell, Minn., and the selling of its Pro Series III Electronic Radon Gas Detector / Monitor.
   I’m sure that Home Safety Systems makes a fine product to track down troublesome radon-gas emissions. However, as noted in one of their ads (which you can find on page 76 of the April 2007 edition of Boston magazine):
   • “Radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S.”
   • “1 out of every 15 U.S. homes is estimated to have elevated radon levels.”
   • “Radon gas develops in soil, water, and igneous rocks.”
   • “Granite is an igneous rock.”
   And then …“Do you have GRANITE countertops in your home?”
   This nice list of pseudo-Socratic logic is paired with a headline of “RADON GAS: Protect Your Family,” with a homey kitchen scene of Mom, Dad and a couple of kids … all around a very nice granite countertop.
   Gee, why don’t we stick some big red atoms and a few biohazard symbols in there while we’re at it? After all, it’s the attack of the killer countertops.
   We could go into the specific citing of evidence and drill into the measurement of picoCuries (pCi) and atom decays per day, but we’d be moving quickly into eyes-glazing-over territory. (To wit: The report to the MIA from a Colorado School of Mines professor, for example, noted that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) radon-gas limit for indoor air is 4 pCi per liter. Granite countertops, he concluded, would emit .00000074 pCi.)
   So I’ll keep it simple: This is bad science selling unwarranted fear. And it needs to stop.
   All those little factoids in the ad, by the way, are true statements. However, while one dovetails into the next, it’s also pairing coincidences to draw a conclusion. It’s the classic argument of, “criminals populate courtrooms, judges run courtrooms, judges must be crooks.”
    Home Safety Systems’ Website isn’t quite as direct. It does cite two studies in North America and Europe, plus a U.S. Surgeon General’s report, on the harmful effect of large quantities of residential radon gas.
   There’s no argument with radon gas being a contributing factor to lung cancer. However, in both of those studies, plus the Surgeon General’s report and an exhaustive Web resource from the EPA, there are no – repeat, no – references to granite countertops or flooring as a harmful generator of excessive radon gas.
   The MIA technical bulletin notes that almost 70 percent of residential radon gas comes from surrounding soil, so it’s no mystery that the scientific studies invariably find unhealthy concentrations in basements. It’s also where a tiny bit (2.5 percent) of excess radon gas is generated by building materials built from that soil.
   I covered one of the biggest residential radon-gas stories in the nation during the late 1970s and 1980s in western Colorado. And the problem didn’t come from granite countertops – it came from tons of fill dirt that homebuilders in the 1950s and 1960s “borrowed” from huge piles of uranium mill tailings.
    The story then, as now, is one where there are fairly simple fixes. Some houses need new foundation fills or water-filtration systems, but the EPA shows that some extra ventilation takes care of the problem (and, to repeat, the EPA doesn’t see granite countertops as part of the radon-gas menace).
   Granite in the home isn’t a deadly hazard just waiting to harm unsuspecting people, like a cobalt-seeded nuke detonating in a downtown bus station. It’s a natural building product that retains many of its scientific properties once it’s quarried, but emissions of radon gas are miniscule.
   The latest inferences on radon and granite are way off base. Several people in the industry protested this approach, including the MIA.
    I wrote to Home Safety Systems in early April, asking for supporting research proving granite countertops and flooring produce enough radon gas to pose a health threat. The response was that, “In the next couple of weeks we will update the Website to address your points.”
   As of late May, the diagram at www.homesafetysystems.com’s “Radon Information” page shows how radon gets into your home. Of the seven areas, guess which is number seven?
   Yes, it’s granite, represented by countertops. It’s still selling with fear instead of reason. Granite countertops aren’t harmful, but this kind of broad-stroke accusation can be for a product’s reputation.
   But I’m just one person out there. Go check the Website yourself. And if you don’t like it, send them an e-mail. Just don’t, well, go nuclear.