Polonium (in Cigs)
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Polonium is one of many chemicals found in cigarettes.
Polonium is an extremely rare radioactive metalloid element. It is chemically similar to tellurium and bismuth and occurs in uranium ores. Polonium has been investigated for possible use to heat spacecraft.
Health Concerns: Polonium is a highly radioactive (alpha-particle emitter) and toxic chemical element that is extremely dangerous to handle. Even in milligram or microgram amounts, polonium-210 is very dangerous to human health. Damage occurs from energy absorption into tissues from alpha particles. A quantity of polonium 210 is approximately 250,000 times as toxic as the same quantity of hydrogen cyanide.
Note that the list of chemicals included in this section (see the list on the left) is not a complete list of all the substances found in cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products.
