POLONIUM ²¹⁰Po IN CIGARETTES PRODUCED IN POLAND

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of ²¹⁰Po determinations in the fourteen most frequently smoked brands of cigarettes, which constitute over 80% of total cigarette consumption in Poland. The ²¹⁰Po activity in the cigarette samples analysed (tobacco, ash, filter before and after smoking) were measured using alpha spectrometry (Canberra-Packard). The data indicates that there is considerable variation in the polonium content of these brands. The highest ²¹⁰Po content per sample was found in the cheap “Popularne” brand (24.12 mBq), the lowest in “Caro” (4.23 mBq). There was also a large difference between the polonium remaining in the ash in comparison with its total content in the tobacco in all the brands (from 4.3% for “Golden American” to 71.0% for “Sobieski King-Size”). The analysis has demonstrated that filters absorbed only a small amount of the polonium contained in the tobacco. “Caro” cigarettes have the most efficient filter, retaining 25.1% of the polonium contained in the tobacco, but most filters absorbed only 0.1–7.2% of polonium. The daily inhalation of ²¹⁰Po by Polish smokers who get through one pack per day ranges from 20 to 215 mBq, but people smoking two or more packs of “Popularne” brand will inhale over 430 mBq of polonium per day.

Keywords:

• ²¹⁰Po
• Cigarette
• Tobacco
• Smoking
• Alpha spectrometry

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN) for their financial support of this work under Grant BW/8000-5-0259-0 and DS/8210-4-0086-0.