Tobacco – Smoking Cigarettes – Radiation Dose
3 hours ago
- Tobacco and tobacco smoke contain radioactive carcinogens lead-210 and polonium-210.
- Polonium-210 emits alpha particles, delivering high local radiation doses of 80-160 mSv/year to lung bifurcations in smokers.
- Radon-222, a decay product of uranium series, seeps from bedrock and its daughters attach to tobacco leaves, contributing to the radioactive content.
- Alpha particles are high-LET radiation, causing concentrated damage with a weighting factor of 20, making them particularly harmful.
- The localized dose from smoking is not comparable to whole-body radiation limits, but is linked to the high incidence of lung cancer in smokers.