Over the years, due to some unfair competition and misleading public opinion, there has been a widespread saying that marble is radioactive and harmful to human body, which seriously affects the application of marble in architecture and home decoration, and also misleads consumers. In order to give consumers a scientific explanation and return marble to innocence, according to China's stone standards, the announcement is as follows:
1. Marble belongs to sedimentary rock and is mainly composed of carbonate minerals. According to the analysis of the geological process of the formation of marble, the formation of natural marble is not directly related to radioactive substances, so it has no radioactive hazard to human body. According to the actual measurement data of stone materials since the implementation of the national standard Radionuclide Limits for Building Materials (GB 6566), the specific activity of radionuclides Ra-226, Thorium-232, and Potassium - 40 in natural marble is far lower than the Class A (unrestricted use) indicators in the standard, and can be completely ignored;
2. In China's stone product standard JC/T 202-2011 Natural Marble Block and GB/T 19766-2005 Natural Marble Building Slabs, there is no requirement to detect the specific activity of radionuclides;
3. The society has been short of understanding the classification of stone materials for a long time. At the same time, it is affected by misunderstanding about the radioactivity of marble. Marble was once included in the mandatory inspection items of the customs, which has a negative impact on the normal trade of marble. On December 24, 2008, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) issued the Announcement on Adjusting the List of Entry Exit Commodities Subject to Inspection and Quarantine by Entry Exit Inspection and Quarantine Institutions (2009), and decided to transfer marble and its products (including limestone, sandstone and other natural stone products) out of the Legal Inspection Catalogue from January 1, 2009, so that entry-exit inspection and quarantine supervision will no longer be implemented, that is, marble will no longer be subject to mandatory radioactive inspection;
4. Among the two standards involved in the application of stone engineering, the Code for Quality Acceptance of Building Decoration Engineering (GB50,210-2001) does not require the detection of marble radioactivity. In the original Code for Indoor Environmental Pollution Control of Civil Building Engineering (GB50,325-2001), marble and granite were uniformly classified as stone and required to detect the radioactivity of marble, which caused confusion in the implementation of marble acceptance standards in various projects. It objectively boosted the public's wrong understanding of harmful radioactivity in marble. With the active efforts of China Stone Association and radioactive experts, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development adopted the experts' opinions. In 2012, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development organized the revision of the content related to material radioactivity in the standard (Article 5.2.1), and issued a notice on the partial revision of the national standard Code for Indoor Environmental Pollution Control of Civil Building Engineering on June 24, 2013. The newly revised standard specifies that the marble does not need to issue a radioactive test report. So far, the above two standards of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development do not require radioactive inspection of marble.
Therefore, all kinds of stone products made of natural marble will not cause radioactive harm to human body, so you can safely choose marble products for various decorations in construction projects and rooms. Stone associations, chambers of commerce, testing institutions and practitioners at all levels should strictly implement national standards, do a good job of publicity and interpretation, and jointly promote the healthy, orderly and sustainable development of the industry.
It is hereby notified.
China Stone Association
National Stone Quality Supervision and Inspection Center
National Stone Standardization Technical Committee
October 15, 2013