Among the building materials we have tuff, granite and concrete. These produce an indirect radioactive action. Natural ionizing radiation are definitely carcinogenic and therefore classified by the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer – Lyon, France) as Class I radiation (like benzene, asbestos,…).
It is obvious that the higher the radioactive dose that the person is exposed to, the greater the risk for the same person to develop various diseases, such as degenerative illnesses including cancer.
We are very familiar with some natural radiation: for instance, everyone knows about the sun UV rays (solar radiation), and the gas radon radiation.
Only a few are aware of the “muons”, gamma rays from the sun, and even less people have ever heard about telluric radiation such as the ones generated from radium-226, polonium-210 (decayed from uranium and thorium), strontium-87, caesium-133 and potassium-40 (generated directly from the ground).