Article: Radioactive Smoke
Author: Brianna Rego
Polonium 210 is found in cigarette smoke and small amounts of polonium 210 are released into the lungs each time people smoke. The poison builds up to the equivalent radiation dosage of 300 chest x-rays a year for a person who smokes one and a half packs a day. Vilma R. Hunt discovered that polonium turns into vapor at temperature of smoldering tobacco. Polonium is dangerous at low levels of exposure over an extended period of time, but not at high levels of exposure. It was likely the primary cause of lung cancer and other types of cancer too. However Polonium could be avoided but the tobacco industry decided to do nothing and kept their research a secret although they knew about polonium in cigarettes for nearly 50 years. It wasn't until June 2009 when President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act into law. This law brings tobacco for the first time under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration, allowing the agency to regulate certain components of cigarettes.
I have always know that smoking is bad for your health but this article gave me another incentive to not smoke. Not only is it bad for your health, it is bad for the environment. People worldwide smoke almost six trillion cigarettes a year and 1.3 million people of lung cancer worldwide each year, 90% caused by smoking. Smoking is the most avoidable cause of death and thousands of deaths could be avoided if polonium is reduced. A way to reduce polonium in cigarette smoke is adding materials to tobacco that would react with lead and polonium to prevent their transfer to smoke and developing a filter that would block polonium vapor. Another way is washing tobacco leaves that would reduce polonium in smoke and might also help remove toxic metals. I'm glad that the FDA has control to regulate tobacco because they can use it to force manufactures to reduce the amount of polonium in cigarettes. If more people were educated about this, they might start advocating against the use of polonium and polonium could be gone from cigarettes!
Author: Brianna Rego
- People worldwide smoke almost six trillion cigarettes a year, and each one delivers a small amount of polonium 210 to the lungs.
- The poison builds up to the equivalent radiation dosage of 300 chest x-rays a year for a person who smokes one and a half packs a day.
- Polonium is not the primary carcinogen in cigarette smoke but causes thousands of deaths in the U.S. alone each year.
- Polonium could be avoided and the tobacco industry knew about polonium in cigarettes for nearly 50 years but decided to do nothing and kept their research a secret.
- Cigarettes still contain as much polonium today as they did half a century ago.
- In June 2009 President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act into law. Brings tobacco for the first time under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration, allowing the agency to regulate certain components of cigarettes.
- Vilma R. Hunt discovered at the temperatures of smoldering tobacco, polonium turns into vapor.
- Polonium 210 was likely the primary cause of their lung cancer and of other types of cancer as well.
- Polonium 210 may be responsible for 2 percent of smoke-induced lung cancers, and thus for several thousands of deaths a year in the U.S. alone.
- A high dose of polonium 210 is not dangerous but continued exposure to small doses over an extended period is.
- A way to reduce polonium in cigarette smoke is adding materials to tobacco that would react with lead and polonium to prevent their transfer to smoke and developing a filter that would block polonium vapor.
- Washing tobacco leaves would reduce polonium in smoke and might also help remove toxic metals.
- Estimation of 1.3 million people die of lung cancer worldwide every year, 90% because of smoking.
Polonium 210 is found in cigarette smoke and small amounts of polonium 210 are released into the lungs each time people smoke. The poison builds up to the equivalent radiation dosage of 300 chest x-rays a year for a person who smokes one and a half packs a day. Vilma R. Hunt discovered that polonium turns into vapor at temperature of smoldering tobacco. Polonium is dangerous at low levels of exposure over an extended period of time, but not at high levels of exposure. It was likely the primary cause of lung cancer and other types of cancer too. However Polonium could be avoided but the tobacco industry decided to do nothing and kept their research a secret although they knew about polonium in cigarettes for nearly 50 years. It wasn't until June 2009 when President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act into law. This law brings tobacco for the first time under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration, allowing the agency to regulate certain components of cigarettes.
I have always know that smoking is bad for your health but this article gave me another incentive to not smoke. Not only is it bad for your health, it is bad for the environment. People worldwide smoke almost six trillion cigarettes a year and 1.3 million people of lung cancer worldwide each year, 90% caused by smoking. Smoking is the most avoidable cause of death and thousands of deaths could be avoided if polonium is reduced. A way to reduce polonium in cigarette smoke is adding materials to tobacco that would react with lead and polonium to prevent their transfer to smoke and developing a filter that would block polonium vapor. Another way is washing tobacco leaves that would reduce polonium in smoke and might also help remove toxic metals. I'm glad that the FDA has control to regulate tobacco because they can use it to force manufactures to reduce the amount of polonium in cigarettes. If more people were educated about this, they might start advocating against the use of polonium and polonium could be gone from cigarettes!