Polonium-210 is the same substance that was implicated in the death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko who became a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin.
So what is it about Polonium-210 that makes it the 'go to' poison for modern day assassins?
Polonium-210 is unstable and decays with a half-life of 138 days into the stable daughter isotope Lead-206. As it decays it emits ionising radiation, specifically huge amounts of alpha radiation. Ionising radiation damages cells by knocking electrons off atoms creating chemically reactive and biologically damaging ions.
Ionising radiation comes in several flavours including alpha, beta, gamma and neutrons. Alpha radiation is more ionising than beta which is more ionising than gamma. The story for neutrons is more complicated.
![]() |
source: http://www.ansto.gov.au |
The low penetration of alpha emitters makes them pretty attractive to the budding assassin. You can carry them round in a vial in your pocket without having to worry about frying your gonads, and they are not likely to be detected by airport security. However, despite their low penetration, when alpha emitters are ingested and absorbed into tissues they cause severe damage.
Slip some Polonium-210 into someone's tea and it gets taken up by the liver, kidney and bone marrow and starts to cause havoc. The first your victim knows is some nausea and other symptoms, by which time its probably too late for them to be effectively treated. As a citrate or nitrate, Polonium is also tasteless so your victim will at least enjoy their last cuppa. Even if it wasn't tasteless, they probably wouldn't notice as the lethal dose is less than one microgram.
So how do you get your hands on some of this stuff? There are incredibly small trace amounts in nature from the natural decay of Uranium but you are going to have to process a mountain of ore to get a useful amount. It is much simpler to go down to your local Russian black marketeer ask him to nick some from a nuclear reactor that uses molten lead-bismuth as a coolant.

It will be several months before we know the results of the tests of Arafat's body, but in the meantime, if someone in a trench coat and dark glasses offers you a cup of tea, politely decline or at least pull out your pocket Geiger counter.
No comments:
Post a Comment