How do you get polonium poisoning?

How can it poison people? People can be poisoned with polonium if they eat or drink food contaminated with it, breathe contaminated air or it enters the body through an open wound. Litvinenko apparently drank tea laced with polonium during a meeting at a London hotel.

What is the toxicity of polonium?

Polonium is one of the most toxic substances known. According to some sources, it is up to a trillion times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide. It is radioactive because it emits alpha particles (helium ions).

Is polonium the most poisonous?

Polonium is over 10,000 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide and, alongside the botulinum toxin, it is one of the most toxic substances known.

Why is polonium called the perfect poison?

Why is it known as the “perfect poison”? Because the alpha particles emitted by polonium-210 cannot travel through skin or paper, it would be easy to smuggle a tiny amount into the country in a glass vial.

Can a person be poisoned by polonium 210?

British radiation experts say once polonium-210 enters the bloodstream, its deadly effects are nearly impossible to stop. How can it poison people? People can be poisoned with polonium if they eat or drink food contaminated with it, breathe contaminated air or it enters the body through an open wound.

What was the first case of polonium poisoning?

In this report, we provide a first-hand account of the events leading to the diagnosis of 210 Po poisoning, as well as the detailed toxico-kinetics of the first documented case of lethal poisoning with polonium.

What was the polonium 210 found in Litvinenko?

On Nov 1, 2006, Mr Litvinenko fell ill and was admitted to hospital. His illness was later attributed to poisoning with polonium-210 ( 210 Po), since substantial amounts of this highly toxic radionuclide were found in his body by the Health Protection Agency (now Public Health England).

How did Irene curies die from polonium poisoning?

In addition to Litvinenko’s presumed death from polonium poisoning, some speculate that the Curies’ daughter Irene, who died of leukemia, may have developed the disease after accidentally being exposed to polonium in the laboratory.