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Polonium-210 (210 Po, Po-210, historically radium F) is an isotope of polonium. It undergoes alpha decay to stable 206 Pb with a half-life of 138.376 days (about 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 months), the longest half-life of all naturally occurring polonium isotopes ( 210–218 Po). [ 1 ]
Doctors say that Scaramella was exposed to a much lower level of polonium-210 than Litvinenko, and that preliminary tests found "no evidence of radiation toxicity". [142] According to the 6 pm Channel 4 news (9 December 2006), the intake of polonium he suffered would only result in a dose of 1 millisievert (100 mrem ).
By mass, polonium-210 is around 250,000 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide (the LD 50 for 210 Po is less than 1 microgram for an average adult (see below) compared with about 250 milligrams for hydrogen cyanide [80]). The main hazard is its intense radioactivity (as an alpha emitter), which makes it difficult to handle safely.
On 1 November 2006, Litvinenko suddenly fell ill and was hospitalised after poisoning with polonium-210; he died from the poisoning on 23 November. [6] The events leading up to this are well documented, despite spawning numerous theories relating to his poisoning and death.
Polonium is dangerous as an alpha particle emitter. If ingested, polonium-210 is a million times as toxic as hydrogen cyanide by weight; it has been used as a murder weapon in the past, most famously to kill Alexander Litvinenko. [2] Polonium poisoning can cause nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and lymphopenia.
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Litvinenko was murdered with the radioactive poison Polonium-210 in 2006, triggering already souring relations between Russia and Britain (and the West in general). The man wanted by the British police on suspicion of the murder of Litvinenko is Andrey Lugovoy , who had visited London before Litvinenko's death and met with him four times.
Alexander Litvinenko died from polonium-210 poisoning in London in 2006. British officials said investigators had concluded the murder of Litvinenko was "a 'state-sponsored' assassination orchestrated by Russian security services."