Do your counters glow in the dark?
July 28, 2008 by cynthia
Here’s a kinda gloomy thought: You work and save and rack up multimonths of angst and near-bankruptcy to give your kitchen one of those homeshow makeovers…only to discover that you’ve got your very own Manhattan Project.
Read a story in the old grey lady about the increasing tendency of granite countertops, especially the really unusually beautiful ones, to emit not only radon but also radiation. Turns out they can contain stuff like uranium, and the EPA is getting a tad concerned. My favorite quote from the article: “It’s not that all granite is dangerous, but I’ve seen a few that might heat up your Cheerios a little.”
Imagine: Now you can cook your steak right on the counter! And when it’s done, don’t light those candles; just turn off the lights and eat by the romantic light of your kitchen countertops. Look at all the energy you’ll save!
Gee. Kinda gives “green living” a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?
Just add this nut-case worry to the list of museums and schools that have removed all the gorgeous Spokane autunite specimens from their collections. Good heavens… alpha particle emissions that can be stopped by a piece of cellophane. Don’t get me talking about schools that have called in hazmat teams because there was a specimen of asbestos, behind glass, in the school’s collection.
I could go into a totally unrelated rant about the Harvard Museum removing their world-class New England specimen collection (bye-bye Grafton Uranite! (See, it was related!)) but then I’d be digressing.
GcB
(Gee, Cynthia, you have to show me how to set up my Very Own Blog so I can rant on my own dime, eh?)
Well, if you come across any autunite you don’t want, daybreak mine kinda stuff, gimmeabuzz. Happy to get out the cellophane for it….
Set up a VOB? Sure. But I like the way you rant on mine…
In the meantime, I’m outlining a novella about a group of violent rightwing christian fundamentalists who go around the burbs stealing granite kitchen surfaces to make nuclear weapons. I’m calling it “The Counter Terrorists.”
*ugh* And I thought Professional Journalists such as yourself never, EVER, sunk to that level…