"Sky" > wrote in message
...
> x-posted, followups set to rec.food.equipment
>
>
> Over the weekend, I read an article in my local newspaper about a
> possible risk of radiation &/or radon contamination from kitchen and
> bathroom countertops made of granite & other similar materials. The
> article intimated the number of incidences is most likely very small,
> but the potential risk does seem to be there. Has anyone else heard of
> this? Almost makes one wonder if a geiger counter should be taken when
> shopping for building materials!
>
> For those who might be curious, here's a link for the same article at
> the Sacramento Bee newspaper* entitled, "Some homeowners, concerned
> about radioactivity, testing granite countertops":
>
> http://www.sacbee.com/850/story/1702782.html
>

All granites are radioactive to a certain extent but that which is called
granite in kitchen stores may not be so! Quarrymen and monumental masons
have their own terminology that may even apply the name granite to a basalt,
which is mineralogically poles apart.