Article: Radioactive Smoke
Author: Brianna Rego
Worldwide, 6 trillion cigarettes are smoked every year. Each one delivers a small amount of polonium 210 to the lungs. Although polonium is not the primary carcinogen in cigarette smoke, it still causes thousands of deaths every year in the U.S alone. Previously, manufacturers have developed methods to drastically reduce polonium in cigarette smoke, the tobacco industry decided to not do anything and keep their research secret. Nothing changed, cigarettes still have as much polonium as they did 50 years ago. Eventually, people found out. In June 2009, president Barack Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which brought tobacco under the jurisdiction of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), allowing the agency to regulate components of cigarettes. This is good because removing polonium from cigarettes would be one of the most effective ways to make cigarettes less deadly. Vilma R. Hunt discovered that there are no signs of polonium in cigarette ash because it turns into vapor when smoldering and is inhaled into smoker's lungs. 90% of the 1.3 million deaths every year from lung cancer are caused by smoking, yet smoking is the most avoidable cause of death! If polonium was taken out, it would save a lot of lives and could've prevented a lot of deaths!
Reading this article angered me because instead of putting their research into action and reducing polonium in cigarette smoke, companies stayed put and didn't do anything to prevent the deaths. They let people die, knowing they could've prevented them. It's really sad how all those deaths could've been prevented if the tobacco industry actually did something. Up to 50% of polonium could be removed with fertilizer and another 25% would be removed if tobacco leaves were washed. Washing tobacco leaves could reduce polonium concentrations in smoke and remove toxic metals like lead and arsenic. Think about it. Just imagine how many lives could've been saved in the tobacco industry used their research in a good way. However, people need to stop smoking if they want to reduce their chances of lung cancer. It's not easy to stop smoking, but if they work hard, then they can do it.
Author: Brianna Rego
- Worldwide people smoke 6 trillion cigarettes a year, each one delivering a small amount of polonium 210 to the lungs
- Polonium may not be the primary carcinogen in cigarette smoke but it stills causes thousands of deaths every year in the U.S alone
- Previously, manufacturers have devised methods that would drastically cut down polonium's concentrations in cigarette smoke, but the tobacco industry decided to not do anything and keep it's research secret
- Cigarettes still have as much polonium as they did 50 years ago
- In June 2009, president Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act into law, bring tobacco under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration and allowing the agency to regulate components of cigarettes
- Removing polonium from cigarettes/cigarette smoke would one of the most straightforward ways to make cigarettes less deadly
- In 1898, Pierre and Marie Curry discovered polonium and radiation
- Radio-chemist Vilma R. Hunt discovered that there are no signs of polonium in cigarette ash because at temperatures of smoldering tobacco, polonium turns into vapor, meaning that the missing polonium goes up and smoke; smokers inhale it directly into their lungs
- Some powerful carcinogens found in cigarette smoke are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrosamines
- Polonium 210 is responsible for causing 2% of smoke-induced lung cancers
- After the release of Radford and Hunt's paper, tobacco manufacturers were concerned about what might happen if people found out the truth about polonium and so they devoted a lot of time to develop research programs on polonium behind closed doors
- Up to 50% of polonium could easily be removed from fertilizer and washing could eliminate another 25%
- Washing tobacco leaves could reduce polonium concentrations in smoke and remove toxic metals like lead
- Smoking is the most avoidable cause of death
- Out of the 1.3 million people dying from lung cancer every year, 90% of them are due to smoking
- If polonium was reduced, it could save a lot of people's lives
Worldwide, 6 trillion cigarettes are smoked every year. Each one delivers a small amount of polonium 210 to the lungs. Although polonium is not the primary carcinogen in cigarette smoke, it still causes thousands of deaths every year in the U.S alone. Previously, manufacturers have developed methods to drastically reduce polonium in cigarette smoke, the tobacco industry decided to not do anything and keep their research secret. Nothing changed, cigarettes still have as much polonium as they did 50 years ago. Eventually, people found out. In June 2009, president Barack Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which brought tobacco under the jurisdiction of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), allowing the agency to regulate components of cigarettes. This is good because removing polonium from cigarettes would be one of the most effective ways to make cigarettes less deadly. Vilma R. Hunt discovered that there are no signs of polonium in cigarette ash because it turns into vapor when smoldering and is inhaled into smoker's lungs. 90% of the 1.3 million deaths every year from lung cancer are caused by smoking, yet smoking is the most avoidable cause of death! If polonium was taken out, it would save a lot of lives and could've prevented a lot of deaths!
Reading this article angered me because instead of putting their research into action and reducing polonium in cigarette smoke, companies stayed put and didn't do anything to prevent the deaths. They let people die, knowing they could've prevented them. It's really sad how all those deaths could've been prevented if the tobacco industry actually did something. Up to 50% of polonium could be removed with fertilizer and another 25% would be removed if tobacco leaves were washed. Washing tobacco leaves could reduce polonium concentrations in smoke and remove toxic metals like lead and arsenic. Think about it. Just imagine how many lives could've been saved in the tobacco industry used their research in a good way. However, people need to stop smoking if they want to reduce their chances of lung cancer. It's not easy to stop smoking, but if they work hard, then they can do it.