Radioactivity in cigarette smoke

210Pb and 210Po concentration levels in tobacco products and resulting radiation dose for Egyptian smokers

The activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po in the most popular cigarettes and moassel tobacco brands consumed in Egypt were determined by the spontaneous deposition method using alpha spectrometry. It turned out that the activity concentration of ²¹⁰Po was higher than that of ²¹⁰Pb in all tobacco brands. Higher activity concentrations for both ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po were found in cigarette than in moassel tobacco. The average activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po in cigarette tobacco were 11.79 ± 1.67 and 15.00 ± 1.83 mBq cig^-1, respectively, whereas in moassel tobacco the values were 7.08 ± 1.91 and 9.12 ± 1.12 mBq g^-1, respectively. The daily activities inhaled in the lung of a smoker and the inhalation effective doses due to cigarette and shisha smoking were calculated. The results revealed that the total ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po daily activities inhaled and the total annual inhalation effective doses due to shisha smoking were two times greater than the corresponding values due to cigarette smoking. Also, the results indicated that the annual effective doses from inhalation of ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po due to smoking 20 cigarettes per day are 14 and 16 times greater than the annual ingestion doses from the diet, respectively. In contrast, the annual effective doses from inhalation of ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po due to shisha smoking (27 g moassel tobacco per day) are 26 and 33 times greater than the annual ingestion doses from the diet, respectively.

The activities of 210Po and 210Pb in cigarette smoked in Tunisia

In this study, the activity concentration of polonium 210 in cigarette for Tunisian consumers was investigated by alpha spectrometry. After chemical digestion of tobacco, ²¹⁰Po was extracted, auto-deposited on disc and measured. The activity of ²¹⁰Pb was assessed after radioactive equilibrium was achieved. The activity levels of ²¹⁰Po ranged between 7.8 ± 0.3 and 17 ± 0.5 mBq per cigarette with an average of 12.9 ± 0.4 mBq per cigarette. Effective doses per year due to cigarette smoking were calculated assuming that 22% of the ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po in tobacco were retained in the lungs of the smokers. It is concluded that for a smoker in Tunisia, the average effective dose is about 90.6 ± 3.3 μSv per year for a cigarette consumption of one pack of cigarettes per day. This value is somewhat lower than 106.4 ± 5.3 μSv per year estimated as the mean global effective dose from smoking.

Is Polonium-210 a Good Indicator for Anthropogenic Radioactivity?

Anthropogenic radioactivity generated by nuclear or chemical events results in the liberation of quadrillions of Becquerel and tons of materials to the environment. These events include nuclear accidents, nuclear weapon experiments, and high levels of generated radioactive and chemical waste. 210Po is a high-energy α emitter that presents in the environment at extremely low concentration. It is considered as one of the highly toxic elements and is estimated to contribute about 7% of the total effective dose equivalent to humans from ingested natural internal radiation. The assessment of 210Po activity/concentration in the environment could be used as an indicator of the level of anthropogenic radioactivity. The 210Po concentration present in the most frequently sold cigarette produced in Lebanon was assayed using α spectrometry after a radiochemical separation and spontaneous deposition of Po on a copper disk. Although the geographical nature of Lebanese land is an extension of Syrian territory, the polonium activity concentration obtained is 8.8 times higher and attributable to the excessive use of phosphate fertilizers in agriculture. The individual committed effective dose was estimated to be equal to 219 ± 17 μSv/year of cigarette smoking.

Natural radionuclides in cigarette tobacco from Serbian market and effective dose estimate from smoke inhalation

The activity concentrations of natural radionuclides ((40)K, (210)Pb, (210)Po, (226)Ra and (228)Ra) in 17 most frequently used cigarette brands in Serbia and corresponding effective doses due to smoke inhalation are presented. The mean annual effective doses for (210)Pb and (210)Po were estimated to be 47.3 and 724 µSv y(-1) for (210)Pb and (210)Po, respectively. Serbia currently has the highest smoking rate in the world. The results of this study indicate the high contribution of the annual effective dose due to smoke inhalation to the total inhalation dose from natural radionuclides. The more effective implementation of actions for reducing smoking prevalence in Serbia is highly needed.

Polonium and lung cancer

The alpha-radioactive polonium 210 (Po-210) is one of the most powerful carcinogenic agents of tobacco smoke and is responsible for the histotype shift of lung cancer from squamous cell type to adenocarcinoma. According to several studies, the principal source of Po-210 is the fertilizers used in tobacco plants, which are rich in polyphosphates containing radio (Ra-226) and its decay products, lead 210 (Pb-210) and Po-210. Tobacco leaves accumulate Pb-210 and Po-210 through their trichomes, and Pb-210 decays into Po-210 over time. With the combustion of the cigarette smoke becomes radioactive and Pb-210 and Po-210 reach the bronchopulmonary apparatus, especially in bifurcations of segmental bronchi. In this place, combined with other agents, it will manifest its carcinogenic activity, especially in patients with compromised mucous-ciliary clearance. Various studies have confirmed that the radiological risk from Po-210 in a smoker of 20 cigarettes per day for a year is equivalent to the one deriving from 300 chest X-rays, with an autonomous oncogenic capability of 4 lung cancers per 10000 smokers. Po-210 can also be found in passive smoke, since part of Po-210 spreads in the surrounding environment during tobacco combustion. Tobacco manufacturers have been aware of the alpha-radioactivity presence in tobacco smoke since the sixties.

Reducing the need for surgeons by reducing pollution-derived workload: is there a role for surgeons?

The need for additional surgical workforce personnel is likely to increase dramatically at a rate beyond our capacity to train them. As surgical training programmes cannot be rapidly expanded, this paper explores an alternative solution to the quandary, a reduction of the disease burden by a war on pollution. Highlighting the role of pollutants in increasing the surgical workload, it identifies potential roles for surgeons in the battle against pollution and draws attention to the need to research out agents which could protect humans against their carcinogenic effects.

The Polonium brief: a hidden history of cancer, radiation, and the tobacco industry

The first scientific paper on polonium-210 in tobacco was published in 1964, and in the following decades there would be more research linking radioisotopes in cigarettes with lung cancer in smokers. While external scientists worked to determine whether polonium could be a cause of lung cancer, industry scientists silently pursued similar work with the goal of protecting business interests should the polonium problem ever become public. Despite forty years of research suggesting that polonium is a leading carcinogen in tobacco, the manufacturers have not made a definitive move to reduce the concentration of radioactive isotopes in cigarettes. The polonium story therefore presents yet another chapter in the long tradition of industry use of science and scientific authority in an effort to thwart disease prevention. The impressive extent to which tobacco manufacturers understood the hazards of polonium and the high executive level at which the problem and potential solutions were discussed within the industry are exposed here by means of internal documents made available through litigation.

Radioactivity of tobacco leaves and radiation dose induced from smoking

The radioactivity in tobacco leaves collected from 15 different regions of Greece and before cigarette production was studied in order to find out any association between the root uptake of radionuclides from soil ground by the tobacco plants and the effective dose induced to smokers from cigarette tobacco due to the naturally occurring primordial radionuclides , such as 226Ra and 210Pb of the uranium series and 228Ra of the thorium series and/or man-made radionuclides, such as 137Cs of Chernobyl origin. Gamma-ray spectrometry was applied using Ge planar and coaxial type detectors of high resolution and high efficiency. It was concluded that the activities of the radioisotopes of radium, 226Ra and 228Ra in the tobacco leaves reflected their origin from the soil by root uptake rather than fertilizers used in the cultivation of tobacco plants. Lead-210 originated from the air and was deposited onto the tobacco leaves and trapped by the trichomes. Potassium-40 in the tobacco leaves was due to root uptake either from soil or from fertilizer. The cesium radioisotopes 137Cs and 134Cs in tobacco leaves were due to root uptake and not due to deposition onto the leaf foliage as they still remained in soil four years after the Chernobyl reactor accident, but were absent from the atmosphere because of the rain washout (precipitation) and gravitational settling. The annual effective dose due to inhalation for adults (smokers) for 226Ra varied from 42.5 to 178.6 microSv/y (average 79.7 microSv/y), while for 228Ra from 19.3 to 116.0 microSv/y (average 67.1 microSv/y) and for 210Pb from 47.0 to 134.9 microSv/y (average 104.7 microSv/y), that is the same order of magnitude for each radionuclide. The sum of the effective doses of the three radionuclides varied from 151.9 to 401.3 microSv/y (average 251.5 microSv/y). The annual effective dose from 137Cs of Chernobyl origin was three orders of magnitude lower as it varied from 70.4 to 410.4 nSv/y (average 199.3 nSv/y).

Radiation dose from cigarette tobacco

The radioactivity in tobacco leaves collected from 15 different regions of Greece before cigarette production was studied in order to estimate the effective dose from cigarette tobacco due to the naturally occurring primordial radionuclides, such as (226)Ra and (210)Pb of the uranium series and (228)Ra of the thorium series and or man-made radionuclides, such as (137)Cs of Chernobyl origin. Gamma-ray spectrometry was applied using Ge planar and coaxial type detectors of high resolution and high efficiency. It was concluded that the annual effective dose due to inhalation for adults (smokers) for (226)Ra varied from 42.5 to 178.6 microSv y(-1) (average 79.7 microSv y(-1)), while for (228)Ra from 19.3 to 116.0 microSv y(-1) (average 67.1 microSv y(-1)) and for (210)Pb from 47.0 to 134.9 microSv y(-1) (average 104.7 microSv y(-1)), that is the same order of magnitude for each radionuclide. The sum of the effective doses of the three natural radionuclides varied from 151.9 to 401.3 microSv y(-1) (average 251.5 microSv y(-1)). The annual effective dose from (137)Cs of Chernobyl origin was three orders of magnitude lower as it varied from 70.4 to 410.4 nSv y(-1) (average 199.3 nSv y(-1)).

Influence of cigarette smoking on spermatozoa via seminal plasma

Numerous investigations have been conducted on the relationship between cigarette smoking and male infertility, however, the exact molecular mechanisms are not well understood in most of the cases. Few studies have indicated the direct effect of seminal plasma (SP) [in different dilutions with phosphate buffer solution (PBS)] from smokers (SM) on the sperm functional parameters from nonsmokers (non-SM). The aim of this study was to provide evidence that cigarette smoking affects male fertility via altering the sperm quality. Our results indicated that exposure of spermatozoa from the non-SM to the SP from the SM yielded a significant reduction in the sperm motility and acrosome reaction and an elevation in the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA), in a certain time course. Exposure of spermatozoa from the SM to the SP from the non-SM or with PBS resulted in the nonsignificant improvement in the altered sperm functional parameters indicating removal of SM's SP and then subsequent reconstitution with physiological media could be of clinical significance in the various assisted reproductive technologies applied for SM. However, the detrimental effect of SM's SP on non-SM's spermatozoa was prominent. In addition, as spermatozoa in SM's SP are susceptible to peroxidative damages, men with such cells who wish to have children should especially benefit from quitting smoking.

Inhalation of 210Po and 210Pb from cigarette smoking in Poland

The carcinogenic etfect of 210Po and 210Pb with respect to lung cancer is an important problem in many countries with very high cigarette consumption. Poland has one of the highest consumptions of cigarettes in the world. The results of 210Po determination on the 14 most frequently smoked brands of cigarettes which constitute over 70% of the total cigarette consumption in Poland are presented and discussed. Moreover, the polonium content in cigarette smoke was estimated on the basis of its activity in fresh tobaccos, ash, fresh filters and post-smoking filters. The annual effective doses were calculated on the basis of 210Po and 210Pb inhalation with the cigarette smoke. The results of this work indicate that Polish smokers who smoke one pack (20 cigarettes) per day inhale from 20 to 215 mBq of 210Po and 210Pb each. The mean values of the annual effective dose for smokers were estimated to be 35 and 70 microSv from 210Po and 210Pb, respectively. For persons who smoke two packs of cigarettes with higher radionuclide concentrations, the effective dose is much higher (471 microSv yr(-1)) in comparison with the intake in diet. Therefore, cigarettes and the absorption through the respiratory system are the main sources and the principal pathway of 210Po and 210Pb intake of smokers in Poland.