The Polonium Brief: A Hidden History of Cancer, Radiation, and the Tobacco Industry

Rego, Brianna

doi:10.1086/644613

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…De maneira geral, a relação entre o 210 Po e o tabaco diverge em datas de publicação do primeiro estudo. Rego (2009) descreve como sendo a primeira publicação sobre o assunto datada de 1964, havendo nas décadas seguintes outros trabalhos ligando radioisótopos e tabagismo.…”

Section: Métodos De Detecção Desenvolvidosunclassified

Presença De Polônio-210 No Tabaco: Uma Revisão Sistemática

Nuncio

Trindade

2016

Destaques Acadêmicos

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Este trabalho teve por finalidade revisar os estudos na literatura envolvendo o Polônio-210 (210Po) de forma geral e relacionado com o tabagismo. A pesquisa ocorreu em artigos científicos publicados no portal BIREME e suas respectivas bases de dados (MEDLINE, LILACS, DECS, HISA e IBECS), somando 944 publicações internacionais envolvendo o 210Po. Destas referências, 239 artigos foram selecionados por possuírem texto completo disponível, sendo utilizados 53 efetivamente. Considerados os estudos já realizados, torna-se necessária a realização de novas pesquisas laboratoriais e populacionais envolvendo a presença do Polônio-210 no tabaco. Mesmo que comprovada esta presença, não houve uma padronização referente ao método de pesquisa e detecção deste elemento químico radioativo.

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Section: Métodos De Detecção Desenvolvidosunclassified

Presença De Polônio-210 No Tabaco: Uma Revisão Sistemática

Nuncio

Trindade

2016

Destaques Acadêmicos

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“…5,13 Despite studies documenting the appearance of lung cancer in animals exposed to low dose of 210 Po, 12 the tobacco industry made no successful effort to remove 210 Po and 210 Pb from tobacco. 7,14,15 Studies on the role of 222 Rn and its progeny as a cause of lung cancer have demonstrated a synergetic effect with tobacco smoke, with efforts to reduce in-house 222 Rn bene ciating more to smokers. [16][17][18] In this respect, it appears that 210 Po present in tobacco smoke could be responsible of some lung cancers otherwise attributed to radon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8,19 As a matter of fact, Winters and Difranza reported "having received hundreds of phone calls from smokers who quit on learning about alpha radiation in cigarette smoke", after the publication of a letter denouncing the lack of research on 210 Po in tobacco in The New England Journal of Medicine. 2,7,20 Thus, the presence of radioactivity in tobacco products and tobacco smoke could be a valuable argument for smoking cessation and could be used as an additional public heath intervention to reduce smoking prevalence tobacco-related diseases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heated Tobacco Products (IQOS®) versus Conventional Cigarette Smoking: a comparison of 210Po and 210Pb content in the mainstream smoke

Froidevaux

Berthet

Butty

et al. 2022

Preprint

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210Po is a radioactive component of conventional cigarette tobacco smoke and is a recognized carcinogen. Despite the expanding market of heated tobacco products, no data are available on the activity of 210Po in the smoke of IQOS Heets® cigarette. We determined the 210Po activity in the mainstream smoke of thirteen cigarette brands available on the Swiss market using a smoking machine and compared the results to the 210Po activity measured in the mainstream smoke of the IQOS® system. In addition, we measured the 210Po and 210Pb loss on heating after uniform heating from 50 to 600°C for several cigarette brands and the Heets® cigarettes. 13.6 ± 4.1% of 210Po activity was found in the mainstream smoke in conventional cigarette smoking (7% for 210Pb). This dropped to 1.8 ± 0.3% in the mainstream smoke of IQOS Heets®. Conversely, when the tobacco was heated uniformly at 330°C, a loss of 210Po of more than 80% was observed for all type of cigarettes. Apparently, IQOS® significantly reduced the 210Po and 210Pb activities in the mainstream smoke. However, our results show that only 15% of the Heets® tobacco reaches 330°C with IQOS®. While IQOS® reduces the 210Po and 210Pb activities in the mainstream smoke compared to conventional cigarettes, it only heats a marginal fraction of the tobacco present in the Heets® cigarette. Because smoking is an addiction (mostly due to nicotine), IQOS® could possibly deliver an unsatisfactory dose of nicotine to a Heets® cigarette smoker, as most of the tobacco is left unaltered.

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“…Although research indicating polonium as one of the major tobacco carcinogens is encouraging, a recent systematic review of this issue has shown that the study of radioactivity of tobacco smoke has been scientifically stagnant for 40 years. On the other hand, the extent to which the tobacco industry has understood the risks of polonium and has discussed its implications is impressive [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Polonium In Vivo” Study: Polonium-210 in Bronchial Lavages of Patients with Suspected Lung Cancer

Zagà

Cattaruzza

Martucci³

et al. 2020

Biomedicines

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Few studies have reported on polonium-210, a decay breakdown product of radon-222 and lead-210, in human lungs and there has been no study in patients with suspected lung cancer. The main aim of this “Polonium in vivo” study was to evaluate polonium-210 radioactivity in bronchopulmonary systems of smoker, ex-smoker and never smoker patients with suspected lung cancer. Alpha-spectrometric analyses were performed on bronchial lavage (BL) fluids from two Italian hospitals in 2013–2016. Socio-demographic, smoking, occupational and spirometric characteristics, lung cancer confirmation and histologic type and radon-222 concentration in patients’ homes were collected. Seventy BL samples from never (n = 13), former (n = 35) and current smokers (n = 22) were analyzed; polonium-210 was detected in all samples from current and former smokers and in 54% of samples from never smokers (p < 0.001; median values: 1.20, 1.43 and 0.40 mBq, respectively). Polonium-210 levels were significantly higher in COPD versus no COPD patients (median value: 3.60 vs. 0.97 mBq; p = 0.007); former and current smokers, without and with COPD, had significantly increased polonium-210 levels (p = 0.012); 96% of confirmed versus 69% of non-confirmed lung cancer patients recorded detectable polonium-210 levels (p = 0.018). A polonium-210 detectable activity was measured in BL samples from all current and former smokers. Polonium-210 in the lungs could be the result of lead-210 entrapment, which, with its half-life of 22 years, could provide a continuous emission of alpha radioactivity, even many years after quitting, thus proposing a possible explanation for the onset of lung cancer, particularly in former smokers.

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The Polonium Brief: A Hidden History of Cancer, Radiation, and the Tobacco Industry

Cited by 24 publications

References 20 publications

Presença De Polônio-210 No Tabaco: Uma Revisão Sistemática

Presença De Polônio-210 No Tabaco: Uma Revisão Sistemática

Heated Tobacco Products (IQOS®) versus Conventional Cigarette Smoking: a comparison of 210Po and 210Pb content in the mainstream smoke

The “Polonium In Vivo” Study: Polonium-210 in Bronchial Lavages of Patients with Suspected Lung Cancer

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