Polonium 210 - The facts

Cutting edge article by: Dr George Georgiou
Founder of the Da Vinci Clinic

Heavy metals, particularly radioactive ones, are in the headlines. One of those is Polonium-210 (210Po), which killed Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian spy. The leading suspicion is that the source of the 210Po that killed Litvinekno came from Russian state nuclear laboratories. The intrigue of this unfolding drama surpasses even something Ian Fleming could conjure. Intrigue or not, the frank reality is that it exposes the soft underbelly of Western democratic society.

Russia's most influential human rights activist, Yelena Bonner, stated in the media recently: Litvinenko's death marks a new kind of Chernobyl - it threatens us all. Without getting too much into the socio-politics of terrorism, such a case as this one merely serves to remind us how vulnerable we are to a dirty bomb or other nuclear terrorist attack. Large populations - an entire region, in fact - are exposed to nuclear terrorism. The public water networks, our food chain, even the vast system of public transportation is insecure from any lunatic who has access to something as deadly as 210Po.

For years, concern existed about missing inventory from the respective arsenals of former Soviet states. Now, the whole world is now on high alert. A stolen nuclear weapon? Heck! How about nuclear waste from a nuclear power plant? While the physics between a nuclear bomb and a dirty bomb are entirely unique, the risk they pose to Western society remains, nonetheless, just as lethal.

Polonium is a rare radioactive metalloid that is chemically similar to tellurium and bismuth, and occurs in uranium ores. 210Po, a radioactive heavy metal that derives from uranium, was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. Exceedingly rare, fewer than 100 grams of 210Po are manufactured each year. Its principle industrial use is in nuclear reactors where it is used to superheat water.

Polonium is a highly radioactive and alarmingly toxic element. Even in milligram or microgram amounts 210Po is extremely hazardous and requires specialized equipment, and strict handling procedures. 210Po does not penetrate the skin's epidermis and hence, it is not such a threat so long as it remains outside the body. However, the fatal dose (LD50 - the dose that leads to 50% risk of death) for acute radiation exposure to polonium is generally about 4 Sv. A milligram of polonium-210 emits as much alpha radiation as about 5 grams of radium, and enough gamma radiation to cause a blue glow in the air around it.

If you think that you have to be a nuclear scientist to find Polonium-210, think again! Polonium is present in tobacco - the level of polonium -210 in American tobacco has tripled in recent years, coinciding with the increased use of calcium phosphate fertilizers. Calcium phosphate ores attract and accumulate uranium, which slowly releases radon gas.

As radon decays, its electrically charged daughter products attach themselves to dust particles, which adhere to the sticky hairs on the underside of tobacco leaves. This leaves a deposit of radioactive polonium and lead on the leaves. Then, the intense localized heat in the burning tip of a cigarette volatilizes the radioactive metals. While cigarette filters can trap some tar and nicotinic chemical carcinogens, they are ineffective against the radioactive vapours.

The lungs of a chronic smoker wind up with a radioactive lining, which actually emits radiation. Smoking two packs of cigarettes a day imparts a radiation dose by alpha particles of about 1,300 millirem per year. Consider, for comparison, that the annual radiation dose to the average American from inhaled radon is 200 mrem. However, the radiation dose at the radon "action level" of 4 pCi/L is roughly equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes a day.

In addition, polunium-210 is soluble and is circulated through the body to every tissue and cell in levels much higher than from residential radon. The proof is that it can be found in the blood and urine of smokers. The circulating polonium -210 causes genetic damage and early death from diseases reminiscent of early radiological pioneers: liver and bladder cancer, stomach ulcer, leukemia, cirrhosis of liver, and cardiovascular diseases.

The previous Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, stated that radioactivity, rather than tar, accounts for at least 90% of all smoking-related lung cancers. The Centers for Disease Control concluded, "Americans are exposed to far more radiation from tobacco smoke than from any other source."

The medical industry has developed drugs called "chelators," which is the Greek word for "to claw." Chelators are synthetic drugs that are designed to claw onto heavy metals and eliminate them from the body. There is a downside, however – chelators can be quite toxic, themselves; and, in addition, chelators can remove a portion of desirable minerals from the body. As a medical class, chelators are only available by doctor's prescription, and they are usually administered by intravenously.

Fortunately, there is a superior alternative - natural chelators, which can be purchased without a prescription – and one needs only to do an Internet search to find hundreds of articles discussing these natural chelators.

Natural chelators are generally much friendlier – and healthier – than their synthetic (prescription-only) counterparts. One such natural chelator that contains a synergistic formula of three natural ingredients such as Chlorella Growth Factor, Coriandrum sativum (Cilantro) plus a homaccord of chlorella have been documented in scientific research to be beneficial as natural chelators by removing a variety of heavy metals from the body, including uranium. This natural chelator, registered as Heavy Metal Detox (HMD™), has been tested in double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with 350 people. Over $1 million has been invested in this research. The results proved that HMD™ is very gentle with no side effects, and it can be administered to all age groups, to promote the mobilization and elimination of toxic metals such as arsenic, antimony, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel and uranium.

Believe it or not, most of us are toxic with heavy metals. And especially now, in this dangerous world in which we live, everyone should be taking HMD™, either prophylactically to prevent the accumulation of these toxins in our bodies, or therapeutically to remove these nasty health-harming metals.

Limited supplies of the Patent Pending HMD are available from LA Muscle's Products page for a limited period.