In the center of Michelle Mastin's house in Victor, two points grab a visitor's attention — the expansive view of Cobblestone Creek golf course outside and the expanse of shiny, black granite countertops inside.
Mastin, a homemaker, said she spends about an hour each day polishing the 100 square feet of stone, which were installed before she and her husband bought the house earlier this year. But recently, her concern for the counters' lustrous appearance has been joined by a concern over the safety of the material.
On a recent sunny morning, Mastin welcomed Steven A. Nardozzi, president of EnviroTech Environmental Services, who brought James Gleason and equipment to test for radon.
Newspaper articles across the country this summer alerted many homeowners to the possibility that these popular counter surfaces could be emitting radon, a radioactive gas that leaches from the ground. Scientists have been researching the question for several years, but some in the building industry suggest the recent flurry of media attention on a minute amount of radon — particularly when compared with background levels from other sources — has been prompted by competitors of the stone countertop industry.
In any case, Mastin wanted to be sure. A newlywed, she hopes to start a family soon. In the meantime, she has her and her husband's health to think about, not to mention that of their two dogs. Elevated levels of radon may increase a person's chance of developing lung cancer.
Nardozzi has been getting quite a few calls lately, adding to the work he normally does this time of year — testing for asbestos and hidden mold as people start battening down for the cold weather. Since the latest studies hit the national news in late July, Nardozzi estimated he had been out on 35 tests for countertop-emitted radon. Of those, about a quarter yielded positive results.
"A lot of people have just got them put in," Nardozzi said of the popular granite counters. "Odds of them wanting to get it ripped out are not good."
In Mastin's house, Nardozzi and Gleason:
Installed an electrical device that monitors air in the kitchen and transmits the data back to his Victor office;
Covered a radon detection canister with a plastic bowl and taped the bowl tightly to the countertop to get a surface reading; and
Scanned the kitchen area with an infrared camera to get a read on the air movements.
When the air quality test came back a week later, it revealed essentially negative results. There was a tiny amount of radon detected in the air, but it was a fraction of the amount that the federal Environmental Protection Agency recommends as the lowest level for taking remedial action.
Mastin was relieved: "If it did come back positive, we were going to rip out the granite."
The expense of removing and replacing all of that countertop would have been many times the $275 that Nardozzi charges for testing.
"I think it worked out really well," Mastin said of her investment in testing. "They were very informative and very professional."
Once considered a key component for those who had the money to create trophy kitchens, granite has grown in popularity and accessibility since new processing techniques helped lower its price, said Mark Makowski, owner of Solid Surfaces in Brighton. Smaller homes are now using granite in their kitchens, though in smaller amounts than in the Mastins' house.
"More and more people are using it instead of maybe changing their cabinets" to update their kitchens, he said. "The biggest fascination is because it is part of the earth — nature that you can really put into your home, and people are really crazy about that right now."
One study by researcher L.L. Chyi of the University of Akron in Ohio suggested that different types of granite emit different levels of radon — but nearly all of those with detectable radon emit a tiny fraction of the level the EPA suggests for action. And with active use of a house, which means people letting in fresh air when they go in and out, and with regular resealing of the countertops, the levels can be further reduced.
Ventilation is usually the method suggested for remediation of high radon levels in basements, where the gas is most commonly found.
Makowski believes much has been made about such a small issue, but because he has so much of it in his workplace, he's monitoring the situation.
"I've got 500 slabs sitting out here and it's all inside. We did a test here and it didn't even show anything," Makowski said. "But we'll do it again in the winter and I'll see what we end up with there."
In the meantime, the waiting area for his business has a television monitor looping a DVD produced by the American Marble Institute, saying granite countertops are safe.
Sales have diminished a little, Makowski said, but he's not that concerned because he also sells alternatives to granite.
"If I have a customer who's really concerned about that, I'll sell them something else," he said.
More often, though, people want granite. "Sometimes it's tough to sell people off of granite."
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