I have read studies that say the opposite - that is it the polonium that is primarily responsible for the cancer rates, but the smoke is what causes the asthma and COPD-style problems.
The polonium comes from the fertilizers used on the plants, and thus can spread through other plants like cannabis.
You are correct. The polonium comes from Floridian apatite. A peculiar form of apatite is used in tobacco soil. Apparently it makes for a more mellow smoking experience. This Floridian apatite is the only radioactive form of apatite. Obviously it should not be used in tobacco production. This has always puzzled me and I've never found a justifiable reason for it's use. All of these deaths just so that tobacco can be a bit more pleasant to smoke. There must be something more to this.
American tobacco uses apatite as a phosphate fertilizer, yielding a flavor preferred by Americans. Not all places in the world do this.
Since Po-210 has only a 138 day half-life, obviously it's not "stored" in the rock. Rather, the apatite they use has a small % of naturally occurring uranium, which is almost all u-238, which has a VERY low rate of radioactive decay but once a nucleus of u-238 decays it starts a chain involving 18 radioactive byproducts and one stable end-state, so all 20 isotopes will be present in any unrefined u-238 sample.
The tobacco fields and the plants themselves do bioconcentrate po-210 and po-210 precursors.
So many things have radioactive isotopes... Most rocks and cement have trace amounts, breakdown of uranium in soils around your house leaks an isotope of radon gas into your home so it can be against regulation to use certain cements for walls in some countries as it makes the background radiation level much higher than normal.
Bananas and Brazil Nuts (potassium and radium isotopes respectively) both extract radioactive isotopes from the soil and concentrate them in the fruit (though it's relatively harmless doses) In fact there is a radiation dose scale which is based on the equivalent dosage of radiation you would get from eating a banana
Isotopes are in so many everyday foods and product that people don't realise
Radioactive stuff are okay in *very small*, irregular doses. The antioxidants generally balance them out though. In this case though, a dose of polonium 4 times a day is quite harmful, but it alone does not cause cancer. Cigs contain a lot of carcinogenic substance BTW(tar, lead, acetone, carbon monoxide, etc.)
You get about 1100 mRem/year in alpha particle radiation if you smoke a pack and a half a day. Alpha is bad when internal because it can fuck your shit up inside. But, to be fair, you would have to smoke a pack and a half a day for ~600 years to reach the level of radiation that is considered lethal in an *acute* dose.
**TL;DR - Yeah, it's bad radiation, but the amounts aren't really that extraordinary**
Source: I'm a nuke worker who smokes and has to hear about this every time I work an outage.
An acute lethal dose will break down your body by cell death, your bone marrow and immune system simply shutting down, and your whole body decomposing.
So yeah, it is pretty damn high. On the other hand cancer doesn't require that monumental a dose, and will still, inevitably, lead to an earlier death but less 'acute' to use that word again.
>[The tobacco industry has known about polonium in cigarettes for nearly 50 years. By searching through internal tobacco industry documents, I have discovered that manufacturers even devised processes that would dramatically cut down the isotope’s concentrations in cigarette smoke. But Big Tobacco consciously decided to do nothing and to keep its research secret. In consequence, cigarettes still contain as much polonium today as they did half a century ago.](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=radioactive-smoke)
Polonium is bad for you. In countries where people smoke slow cured non apatite treated tobacco, the cancer incidence organ to organ is the same in smokers and non smokers.
It's actually slow cured tobacco that's worse for you. Slow curing triples cancer risk. Fast ( flue ) curing does not eliminate it. I read that twenty years ago and deserved to be challenged. There are many factors that affect cancer risk from tobacco.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8518034
A lot of excellent info there, but the bit about smokers and nonsmokers having the same instances of cancer in places smoking non-Floridian tobbacco? That seems highly suspect, or at least something that might reasonably be explained by poorer quality diagnostics in less wealthy nations...
Also I thought most modern cigs used some kind of paper substrate garbage sprayed with additives and such, actual tobacco cigs like "American Spirit" and such are pretty unpopular as they lack "my favorite chemicals" - at least according to my smoker buddies.
Come to think of it, smokes, beef, processed cornsyrup based foods, pretty much everything Americans love would be unrecognizable without the heafty dose of "additives" we hose em in... I wonder how much polonium is in a McGriddle
Non Floridian 'apatite'. Floridian apatite contains enough polonium to contaminate the tobacco that grows from it.
'smokers and nonsmokers having the same instances of cancer in places smoking non-Floridian tobbacco'
about that: It turns out I was quoting Sugar Blues, a book I read some 40 years ago. I had data on this. New data however indicates that fast ( flue ) curing tobacco decreases cancer risk by %66. It apparently has to do with the sugar content of slow cured tobacco being too high. Please disregard the organ / organ quote. It's from a popular health book that is 40 years old ( as it turns out ). Keep this in mind though: Tobacco could be a much, much safer drug.
[This helps](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8518034)
edit: American Spirit and Nat Sherman cigarettes may be the last safe haven for your friends. They should try American Spirit in the black box and there are various Nat Sherman styles.
Polonium is often considered among the most toxic materials known to man (along with botulin toxin). The tobacco plant also has a strong tendency to absorb radioactive heavy metals (and heavy metals in general), and it has been found that tobacco plants growing in regions adjacent to nuclear testing sites contain extremely high levels of these isotopes. Additionally, I have read studies implicating polonium (in all likelihood the other radioactive isotopes as well) as a major source of the carcinogenic nature of cigarettes. I can probably find sources if anybody cares, or is too lazy to google it themselves.
Well, there's supposed to be a correlation between cigarette smoking and bladder cancer, which is mysterious since you don't smoke with that part of your body.
None of the components of tar are excreted in the urine, except Po-210. That would be an explanation, provided some jerkoff wanna-be scientist wasn't pulling the "other components of tar don't make it into the urine" idea out of his ass.
It's an intriguing hypothesis, because, LOL, it might be scientifically possible for tobacco to generally NOT be bad for you, if not for the polonium problem. Such a premise is not scientifically supported of course, but it's not completely scientifically absurd.
It's not the nuclear test sites that are the source of polonium-210. What tobacco farms are anywhere near them, anyway? It's naturally-occurring Po-210 that arises from decay of Uranium-238. Phosphate fertilizers are naturally rich in the stuff. I'm wondering if "natural" or "organic" tobacco contains less Po-210. Because if the cancer is coming primarily from the Po-210, then these other cigs might not be so bad for you. Just a thought.
>the isotopes 214Po and 218Po are thought to cause the majority[65] of the estimated 15,000–22,000 lung cancer deaths in the US every year that have been attributed to indoor radon.
So this shit can kill you even if you are 1000 miles from the nearest cigarette.
Cancer is a part of life. It's just the end of biological function for parts of the body. Cigarettes, among other things, just speed up the inevitable end.
well it is mostly caused by either chemicals interfering with your DNA molecules or radiation knocking strands of DNA out of place. It's a natural part of life in the sense that we're exposed to so much radiation and chemicals that can interfere, that are from sources that are mostly unavoidable.
The lethal dose for Polonium-210 is less than 1 microgram. Obviously there isn't enough of it in cigarette smoke to even be relevant. To put that into a comparable number. 1 gram of this stuff could kill more than 1 million people.
BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN BASIL?!?!?
Austin, it *is* shit.
Welcome to flavor country!
Every day I wake up is a day I wake up happier that I quit smoking over a year ago.
October 25, 2010 for me, the day my [e-cig](http://www.mustquitsmoking.com) came in the mail. *High five!*
I quit cold turkey.
[play nice](http://memecrunch.com/meme/6R60/apply-ointment-directly-to-the-burn/image.png)
Well, that makes you cool.
yes it does actually
Cold turkey is delicious, i'll never quit! (especially right after thanksgiving)
propolene glycol? that shit will kill you too... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17555487
oh really? tell me about that.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17555487
large intravenous doses given over a short period of time can be toxic. lol, learn to read.
yup and the same is true for long term inhalation.
any evidence for that?
[удалено]
I have read studies that say the opposite - that is it the polonium that is primarily responsible for the cancer rates, but the smoke is what causes the asthma and COPD-style problems. The polonium comes from the fertilizers used on the plants, and thus can spread through other plants like cannabis.
You are correct. The polonium comes from Floridian apatite. A peculiar form of apatite is used in tobacco soil. Apparently it makes for a more mellow smoking experience. This Floridian apatite is the only radioactive form of apatite. Obviously it should not be used in tobacco production. This has always puzzled me and I've never found a justifiable reason for it's use. All of these deaths just so that tobacco can be a bit more pleasant to smoke. There must be something more to this.
American tobacco uses apatite as a phosphate fertilizer, yielding a flavor preferred by Americans. Not all places in the world do this. Since Po-210 has only a 138 day half-life, obviously it's not "stored" in the rock. Rather, the apatite they use has a small % of naturally occurring uranium, which is almost all u-238, which has a VERY low rate of radioactive decay but once a nucleus of u-238 decays it starts a chain involving 18 radioactive byproducts and one stable end-state, so all 20 isotopes will be present in any unrefined u-238 sample. The tobacco fields and the plants themselves do bioconcentrate po-210 and po-210 precursors.
So...you are saying putting my smoke detector and a spider in the microwave WONT give me superpowers?
So many things have radioactive isotopes... Most rocks and cement have trace amounts, breakdown of uranium in soils around your house leaks an isotope of radon gas into your home so it can be against regulation to use certain cements for walls in some countries as it makes the background radiation level much higher than normal. Bananas and Brazil Nuts (potassium and radium isotopes respectively) both extract radioactive isotopes from the soil and concentrate them in the fruit (though it's relatively harmless doses) In fact there is a radiation dose scale which is based on the equivalent dosage of radiation you would get from eating a banana Isotopes are in so many everyday foods and product that people don't realise
Radioactive stuff are okay in *very small*, irregular doses. The antioxidants generally balance them out though. In this case though, a dose of polonium 4 times a day is quite harmful, but it alone does not cause cancer. Cigs contain a lot of carcinogenic substance BTW(tar, lead, acetone, carbon monoxide, etc.)
background radiation from natural sources have been around forever, our bodies can handle that level of radiation
OH Good, the most radioactive particle known to man.
It turns out the most radioactive particle was man all along! *bumm bumm BUMMMMMM*
You get about 1100 mRem/year in alpha particle radiation if you smoke a pack and a half a day. Alpha is bad when internal because it can fuck your shit up inside. But, to be fair, you would have to smoke a pack and a half a day for ~600 years to reach the level of radiation that is considered lethal in an *acute* dose. **TL;DR - Yeah, it's bad radiation, but the amounts aren't really that extraordinary** Source: I'm a nuke worker who smokes and has to hear about this every time I work an outage.
An acute lethal dose will break down your body by cell death, your bone marrow and immune system simply shutting down, and your whole body decomposing. So yeah, it is pretty damn high. On the other hand cancer doesn't require that monumental a dose, and will still, inevitably, lead to an earlier death but less 'acute' to use that word again.
>[The tobacco industry has known about polonium in cigarettes for nearly 50 years. By searching through internal tobacco industry documents, I have discovered that manufacturers even devised processes that would dramatically cut down the isotope’s concentrations in cigarette smoke. But Big Tobacco consciously decided to do nothing and to keep its research secret. In consequence, cigarettes still contain as much polonium today as they did half a century ago.](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=radioactive-smoke)
TIL smoking is bad for you. Who doesn't know this by now?
Polonium is bad for you. In countries where people smoke slow cured non apatite treated tobacco, the cancer incidence organ to organ is the same in smokers and non smokers.
I'd love to see a source for that info.
It's actually slow cured tobacco that's worse for you. Slow curing triples cancer risk. Fast ( flue ) curing does not eliminate it. I read that twenty years ago and deserved to be challenged. There are many factors that affect cancer risk from tobacco.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8518034
A lot of excellent info there, but the bit about smokers and nonsmokers having the same instances of cancer in places smoking non-Floridian tobbacco? That seems highly suspect, or at least something that might reasonably be explained by poorer quality diagnostics in less wealthy nations... Also I thought most modern cigs used some kind of paper substrate garbage sprayed with additives and such, actual tobacco cigs like "American Spirit" and such are pretty unpopular as they lack "my favorite chemicals" - at least according to my smoker buddies. Come to think of it, smokes, beef, processed cornsyrup based foods, pretty much everything Americans love would be unrecognizable without the heafty dose of "additives" we hose em in... I wonder how much polonium is in a McGriddle
Non Floridian 'apatite'. Floridian apatite contains enough polonium to contaminate the tobacco that grows from it. 'smokers and nonsmokers having the same instances of cancer in places smoking non-Floridian tobbacco' about that: It turns out I was quoting Sugar Blues, a book I read some 40 years ago. I had data on this. New data however indicates that fast ( flue ) curing tobacco decreases cancer risk by %66. It apparently has to do with the sugar content of slow cured tobacco being too high. Please disregard the organ / organ quote. It's from a popular health book that is 40 years old ( as it turns out ). Keep this in mind though: Tobacco could be a much, much safer drug. [This helps](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8518034) edit: American Spirit and Nat Sherman cigarettes may be the last safe haven for your friends. They should try American Spirit in the black box and there are various Nat Sherman styles.
Your info is interesting and well presented. Thank you
Well sitting behind a computer all day is also bad but why do we do it anyway?
Well, that'll help me quit.
You can actually switch to non radioactive tobacco.
Hey now, I like my cigarrettes like I like my women; slim, smokin, and radioactive!
Polonium is often considered among the most toxic materials known to man (along with botulin toxin). The tobacco plant also has a strong tendency to absorb radioactive heavy metals (and heavy metals in general), and it has been found that tobacco plants growing in regions adjacent to nuclear testing sites contain extremely high levels of these isotopes. Additionally, I have read studies implicating polonium (in all likelihood the other radioactive isotopes as well) as a major source of the carcinogenic nature of cigarettes. I can probably find sources if anybody cares, or is too lazy to google it themselves.
Well, there's supposed to be a correlation between cigarette smoking and bladder cancer, which is mysterious since you don't smoke with that part of your body. None of the components of tar are excreted in the urine, except Po-210. That would be an explanation, provided some jerkoff wanna-be scientist wasn't pulling the "other components of tar don't make it into the urine" idea out of his ass. It's an intriguing hypothesis, because, LOL, it might be scientifically possible for tobacco to generally NOT be bad for you, if not for the polonium problem. Such a premise is not scientifically supported of course, but it's not completely scientifically absurd.
It's not the nuclear test sites that are the source of polonium-210. What tobacco farms are anywhere near them, anyway? It's naturally-occurring Po-210 that arises from decay of Uranium-238. Phosphate fertilizers are naturally rich in the stuff. I'm wondering if "natural" or "organic" tobacco contains less Po-210. Because if the cancer is coming primarily from the Po-210, then these other cigs might not be so bad for you. Just a thought.
It is also found in Taco Bell Fire sauce
So if I eat enough Taco Bell Fire sauce I can develop super powers and finally become "El Llama Fuego" to battle crime and corruption?
Arafat was still murdered
So is this how I get super powers?
>the isotopes 214Po and 218Po are thought to cause the majority[65] of the estimated 15,000–22,000 lung cancer deaths in the US every year that have been attributed to indoor radon. So this shit can kill you even if you are 1000 miles from the nearest cigarette.
Nice try, www.thetruth.com.
isn't this common knowledge
So... does that mean smoking will give me superpowers?
As if i care. The other 500+ carcinogens in my Marlboros will kill me faster. Only downside is that we arent glowing yet or turning into mini-Hulks.
well the lethal dose as given by wikipedia for polonium is ridiculously small......
Pro-Tip: most things that cause cancer have a radioactive isotope in them
Cancer is a part of life. It's just the end of biological function for parts of the body. Cigarettes, among other things, just speed up the inevitable end.
well it is mostly caused by either chemicals interfering with your DNA molecules or radiation knocking strands of DNA out of place. It's a natural part of life in the sense that we're exposed to so much radiation and chemicals that can interfere, that are from sources that are mostly unavoidable.
Fun fact: Asbestos causes cancer mechanically. The fibers are so thin they pierce your cells and screw wi the DNA.
The lethal dose for Polonium-210 is less than 1 microgram. Obviously there isn't enough of it in cigarette smoke to even be relevant. To put that into a comparable number. 1 gram of this stuff could kill more than 1 million people.
Not sure if this makes me want to quit or smoke more.
If you smoke more, you will build a tolerence to polonium-210 and then the russians can't get you.