The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating whether cutting granite could be hazardous for the employees who do it.



Al Gerhardt said he's done tests that have raised some red flags.



"What we can tell you is this granite countertop is more dangerous than this one," he said, pointing to two examples.



The Oklahoma City man has been concerned that granite can emit cancer-causing radiation when it's being cut. He said he's especially concerned about employees who work closely with it.



Gerhardt said he and an industrial hygienist cut granite in his shop and sent the results to a health physicist. He worker workers cutting granite receive 3,000 times the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's recommended level of radiation exposure.



Previous federal studies have found stone cutters have been exposed to high levels of particles that may be associated with radiation hazards.



The U.S. Department of Labor said it's closely watching studies like Gerhardt's.



There have also been questions about how much radiation might be emitted from granite countertops that are commonly used in homes. The Marble Institute of America's position is that granite is safe and it gives the studies little credit.