Reader question: Are my counters giving me a headache?
Help! A couple days ago on our neighborhood news channel, they become talking about granite counters do away with a dangerous gasoline. Studies showed human beings changed into having headaches and some different signs and symptoms. I forgot the gases that it places out. I ignored maximum of this, but I get complications all of the time in view that we moved into our new residence. We have granite counters. Do I have radon and is that what's giving me complications? I read you each day. Thanks.
Oh Lord, this query makes me loopy due to the fact I listen it all the time. It's now not so much the question that bothers me, it is the freak out that accompanies any dialogue of the phrase radioactive. Radioactive is a hot-button word because we have an educational system geared to making appropriate clients as opposed to proper thinkers. The result is a world packed with people blind to the technology that makes it viable.
To solution your query, no, your granite counters can not come up with complications. The gasoline sometimes emitted, in tiny quantities, by way of a few granites is referred to as Radon, and Radon can't give you a headache both. Further, to the pleasant of my knowledge, there were no research that confirmed that humans have been getting sick from their counters.
This Radon/ radiation tale is a mountain manufactured from a molehill via a alternate organization final summer. The exchange company behind it represents the fabricators of strong surface counters. Solid surface is a synthetic counter material sold beneath a variety of brand names like Corian, Hi-Macs, Staron and others. Beware any locating or examine publicized by a trade corporation or entity with a vested interest in a good result.
The high-quality way to dispel this rumor that is unexpectedly turning into an urban fable is to polish a little mild of science and purpose onto it. So over the next day or so I'm going to do a short overview of some simple physics and atomic theory. I promise to keep it easy and easy to observe. Stick round please. It's better to apprehend something so that you could make an informed choice than it's miles to be afraid of something you don't understand. Don't you watched? This is never a definitive lesson in physics. To make certain I'm now not missing something or misleading you, I've enlisted the assist of Chris Forrest, a exceptional physicist from Manchester inside the UK. Chris answered to my call for assist in this topic via Twitter the other day and I owe him a wonderful debt of gratitude. I know sufficient about this topic to get about half of way there. The segment approximately Radon is all Chris and this submit wouldn't were viable without his smart suggest and atomic know-how. Here goes:
All count number consists of atoms. Atoms are the constructing blocks of everything inside the regarded universe. Atoms are like little balls of stuff and if you zoomed in on a seashore, a few water, your canine or your son; eventually you'll see that they are all alike in that they may be crafted from atoms.
There's a dense lump in the center of an atom. The lump inside the middle consists of two kinds of smaller debris called protons and neutrons. It's that nucleus that contains maximum of the stuff inside the atom. There are other small bits that whizz around that center the manner the earth whizzes around the solar. These whizzing bits are called electrons. For the purposes of a discussion about radiation and radioactivity, we're best going to talk approximately the thing elements of that nucleus, the protons and neutrons.
Different atoms have extraordinary numbers of protons in their nuclei, and these differing numbers of protons determine what substance they're. These materials are called elements. Every detail has its own unique combination of a sure range of protons and neutrons. Iron, gold, oxygen, copper and uranium are examples of elements. The debris that make up an atom are held together with some thing known as atomic pressure. Atoms, and therefore elements, are extraordinarily tough and the bonds of atomic force are so sturdy that chemical reactions can not pull them apart or exchange what is in them. However, there is a manner that can meddle in this atomic world.
OK, so know you realize what atoms are all about.
Most atoms are strong, and the protons and neutrons of their nuclei are caught together very tightly.
Some atoms, if they're a bit too fats for his or her personal top, have volatile nuclei. These atoms shed their extra particles in a procedure of deterioration called radiation. It's type of like happening a eating regimen. Just as you shed pounds until you reach a stable weight, an risky atom's nucleus will shed greater debris till it reaches a nation of balance. Since the name of an atom is decided by way of the number of protons and neutrons in its nucleus, the act of shedding these parts turns the atom into something else. It is the extra parts and energy that are shed in the course of this decay method which can be referred to as radiation. An atom behaving, decaying, on this manner is said to be radioactive.
Radiation and radioactivity are a natural, ordinary part of the manner things are. Life on this planet evolved inside the presence of radiation and radioactivity, and all existence in the world evolved methods to deal with it. We're surrounded by means of a low stage of radiation at each second and it's completely harmless. The occasional, higher doses we get from having an x-ray or flying in an airplane aren't remotely sufficient to do us any damage. Most radiation falls into this innocent class. There are a few more potent varieties of radiation which might be harmful, however maximum radiation isn't always.
So there may be a quickie description of what radiation and radioactivity are. See? Nothing scary and nothing too hard to understand. Right? Now, permit me wade into what radon is.
Radon begins out as clearly taking place Uranium. Uranium is scattered via out the rocks and soil just about anywhere in the world. This form of Uranium isn't similar to they kind used for nuclear fuel or guns, however it's nevertheless Uranium and it's far an unstable atom.
This Uranium gives out radiation, and modifications right into a different atom. This lighter atom, but, continues to be risky, and so the system of giving out radiation, and getting a bit lighter continues. Eventually, this gradual and sluggish migration of natural Uranium towards a solid state happens to reach a special type of atom. This atom is referred to as Radon, and it's special, no longer because it is unstable and radioactive, but due to the fact it is a gasoline this is each of these items. As a gas, it may escape from the ground and get into the air.
Radon in and of itself isn't always dangerous. However, as an unstable atom it's now not the final stop within the chain of Uranium decay. After Radon decays, it will become 4 special atoms that scientists affectionately name its "daughters." It is those daughters than can pose a threat to human beings in a few situations.
These daughters decay very swiftly and when they do they release an alpha particle. This is a sort of radiation that is largely innocent when out of doors of the frame. This alpha particle can be stopped with the aid of only a few centimeters of air, or a chunk of paper. However, if this kind of radiation is produced inner of you (for instance on your lungs) then it turns into the most dangerous kind. Because radon is a gas, it could be inhaled and this alpha particle may be launched whilst it is inner some one's lung. The occasional alpha particle is unavoidable, the trouble comes from repeated exposure. Repeated, excessive, internal exposures to those 4, alpha-emitting daughters can increase your danger of growing lung most cancers.
Radon and its 4 daughters are anywhere in the soil and within the air. Radon is some other inescapable, normally innocent fact of life on earth. It seeps up from the soil and water and dissipates harmlessly within the environment. However, whilst radon is allowed to collect it could purpose a problem. This happens most customarily in basements. A basement's partitions are under the soil stage via definition and so the certainly-occurring radon within the soil seeps into the basement in which it collects in a drab, odorless, tasteless cloud. You can most effective tell it's there with a radon detector package. However, in case you spend sufficient time breathing in that radon cloud it is able to, over the long time, barely boom your hazard of growing positive lung cancers.
Remember that this is only viable if the Radon is allowed to accumulate. If you have got Radon for your basement, a easy air flow gadget is all you need to attend to it. The secret's to save you it from collecting. Outside of an enclosed basement or the move slowly space below a house, it is almost not possible for Radon to accumulate. The EPA has a amazing internet site devoted to a panic-free dialogue of Radon, its risks and its mitigations. Give it a read in case you'd like a few more data on these topics.
So now I hope you have a primary knowledge of an atom, of radiation, radioactivity and of Radon. Tomorrow I'm going to talk about how Radon receives into a few granites and what there is to do about it.