No, that does not qualify for a Darwin award whatsoever. There is no radon, uranium, or thorium risk in Sierra granite terrain. It's not geologically like Appalachia. And any quarry face is tiny compared to the uncountable thousands of natural granite faces and monoliths in our mountains. There are many kinds of granite, under many different mineralogical classifications, which have little to do with Countertop store labels. And in those businesses, by far the greatest risk to workmen is silicosis if they don't wear proper respiratory gear when shaping the slabs.
But the greatest risk growing up surrounded by granite in every direction is simply due to incorrectly mixing fun with gravity - falling off a big piece of it when climbing. Or, if that kind of recreation doesn't appeal to you, there are plenty of optional opportunities for driving off a cliff too. I grew up on the side of a canyon nearly twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. Climb up to the top of an overlooking peak, and way down in that canyon, off in the distance, is a little granite wart taller than Half Dome in Yosemite. It has none of the millions of tourists Yosemite gets - but to date, I've never heard of a radon risk to people in Yosemite either. Nor have I ever seen the bears walking around with Geiger counters.
At lower elevations, our serpentine formations carry a bit of asbestos and other nasties, but not really enough to worry about either unless it's pulverized and breathed; a bit of radon too. And in the case I noted, the specific granite quarry was used not only for tombstones, but for major buildings in downtown SF, like the original B of A building, as well as the more recent MLK Memorial park and fountains right across the street from SFMMA. Nobody worries about radon or radiation at those locations.
The luminous hands on an old Mickey Mouse watch would be worse.
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Originally Posted by AgNO3
. too bad they stopped making / importing them. it's like the Honda fit, don't import them anymore either..
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