If you can't stand the hot (stones), get out of the kitchen!

Ionizing radiation, the subatomic particles with energies large enough
to cause genetic mutations and potentially cancer, surrounds us. It
rains on us from above, is in our food, rises into the air from the
ground under our homes, and is key to many beneficial medical
diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Physicists that
smash nuclei together at high speeds are aware of and comfortable with
an additional exposure beyond this natural background resulting from
their research.

One day a few years ago, Dr. Bill Llope (WSU Physics & Astronomy) was asked to appear in a
local TV news piece investigating a homeowner's claim that his granite
kitchen countertops had killed his dogs and was thus assumed to be
greatly endangering his family. This started a few year hobby to learn
about radiation from granite countertops in homes. Along the way, Dr. Llope
ran into (unnecessarily) angry granite retailers, a public already
overly worried about radiation risks, local and national media
coverage, and several forms of industrial subterfuge. At the same
time, he collected a variety of samples of granite countertops
available for homeowners from many local granite dealers, and then
measured the radiation rates and activity concentrations of the major
radioactive sources, 40-K, U-nat, and 232-Th, using a "full spectrum
analysis." An anthropomorphic phantom and the "geant4" physics
simulation package was used to relate the measured activity
concentrations to the yearly direct-radiation doses to kitchen
occupants. The results were published [1]. In this talk, Dr. Llope will share
what he learned and answer the question: "Are your granite countertops
trying to kill you?"

[1] W.J. Llope, "Activity concentrations and dose rates from
decorative granite countertops", Journal of Environmental
Radioactivity, Volume 102, Issue 6, June 2011, Pages 620-629, ISSN
0265-931X,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.03.012
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X11000580

Sciences & Humanities Under the Dome is a free public lecture series supported by the Rita & Stanley Levy & Ratna & Vaman Naik Endowment. We welcome all members of the community to join us in the planetarium for these research lectures!

Light refreshments will be provided prior to the lecture. Doors open at 5:30pm.