Polonium in Cigarettes—Spectroscopic Analysis

Abstract

ALPHA-RADIOACTIVITY in cigarettes has recently been measured by two groups. Turner and Radley¹ suggested that ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po are not present in the raw tobacco at levels of activity of the same order as ²²⁶Ra, and concluded that the additional α-activity taken into the lungs from the radium content in cigarettes is less than 1 per cent of the atmospheric radon inhaled by both smokers and non-smokers. Radford and Hunt², however, maintained that polonium is more dangerous because of its volatility above 500° C. They identified the ²¹⁰Po content of cigarettes by observing α-activity of 138 days half-life, and estimated the radiation dose to bronchial epithelium from ²¹⁰Po inhaled in cigarette smoke to be at least seven times that from background sources, and in localized areas possibly up to 200 times.