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polonium 210 wikipedia jump to content main menu main menu move to sidebar hide navigation main page contents current events random article about wikipedia contact us contribute help learn to edit community portal recent changes upload file special pages search search appearance donate create account log in personal tools donate create account log in contents move to sidebar hide top 1 history 2 decay properties 3 production toggle production subsection 3 1 deliberate 3 2 byproduct 4 applications 5 hazards 6 references toggle the table of contents polonium 210 17 languages العربية čeština deutsch español فارسی français bahasa indonesia 日本語 한국어 македонски nederlands português русский türkçe українська tiếng việt 中文 edit links article talk english read edit view history tools tools move to sidebar hide actions read edit view history general what links here related changes upload file permanent link page information cite this page get shortened url switch to legacy parser print export download as pdf printable version in other projects wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide from wikipedia the free encyclopedia isotope of polonium polonium 210 general symbol 210 po names polonium 210 radium f protons z 84 neutrons n 126 nuclide data natural abundance trace half life t 1 2 138 376 0 002 d 1 isotope mass 209 9828736 2 da spin 0 parent isotopes 210 bi β decay products 206 pb decay modes decay mode decay energy mev alpha decay 5 40745 3 isotopes of polonium complete table of nuclides 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 first identified in 1898 and also marking the discovery of the element polonium 210 po is generated in the decay chain of uranium 238 and radium 226 210 po is a prominent contaminant in the environment mostly affecting seafood and tobacco its extreme toxicity is attributed to intense radioactivity mostly due to alpha particles which easily cause radiation damage including cancer in surrounding tissue the specific activity of 210 po is 166 tbq g i e 1 66 10 14 bq g at the same time 210 po is not readily detected by common radiation detectors because its gamma rays have a very low intensity therefore 210 po can be considered as a quasi pure alpha emitter history edit the decay chain of uranium 238 known as the uranium series or radium series of which polonium 210 is a member in 1898 marie and pierre curie discovered a strongly radioactive substance in pitchblende and determined that it was a new element it was one of the first radioactive elements discovered having identified it as such they named the element polonium after marie s home country poland willy marckwald discovered a similar radioactive activity in 1902 and named it radio tellurium as it was chemically extracted with its homolog tellurium and at roughly the same time ernest rutherford identified the same activity in his analysis of the uranium decay chain and named it radium f originally radium e by 1905 rutherford concluded that all these observations were due to the same substance 210 po further discoveries and the concept of isotopes first proposed in 1913 by frederick soddy firmly placed 210 po as the penultimate step in the uranium series 4 in 1943 210 po was studied as a possible neutron initiator in nuclear weapons as part of the dayton project in subsequent decades concerns for the safety of workers handling 210 po led to extensive studies on its health effects 5 in the 1950s scientists of the united states atomic energy commission at mound laboratories ohio explored the possibility of using 210 po in radioisotope thermoelectric generators rtgs as a heat source to power satellites a 2 5 watt atomic battery using 210 po was developed by 1958 however the isotope plutonium 238 was chosen instead as it has a longer half life of 87 7 years 6 polonium 210 was used to kill russian dissident and ex fsb officer alexander v litvinenko in 2006 7 8 and was suspected as a possible cause of yasser arafat s death following exhumation and analysis of his corpse in 2012 2013 9 the radioisotope may also have been used to kill yuri shchekochikhin lecha islamov and roman tsepov 10 decay properties edit schematic of the final steps of the s process the red path represents the sequence of neutron captures blue and cyan arrows represent beta decay and the green arrow represents the alpha decay of 210 po it is the short half lives of 210 bi and 210 po that prevent the formation of heavier elements instead resulting in a cycle of four neutron captures two beta decays and an alpha decay 210 po is an alpha emitter that has a half life of 138 376 days 1 it decays directly to stable 206 pb the majority of the time 210 po decays by emission of an alpha particle only not by emission of an alpha particle and a gamma ray about one in 100 000 decays results in the emission of a gamma ray 3 84 210 p o 138 376 d 82 206 p b 2 4 h e displaystyle mathrm 210 _ 84 po xrightarrow 138 376 d _ 82 206 pb _ 2 4 he this low gamma ray production rate makes it difficult to use for identification of the isotope rather than gamma ray spectroscopy alpha spectroscopy is the best method of measuring it owing to its much shorter half life a milligram of 210 po emits as many alpha particles per second as 5 grams of 226 ra 11 that is a milligram is 5 curies a few curies of 210 po emit a blue glow caused by excitation of surrounding air 210 po occurs in minute amounts in nature where it is the penultimate isotope in the uranium series decay chain it is generated via beta decay from 210 pb and 210 bi the astrophysical s process is terminated by the decay of 210 po as the neutron flux is insufficient to lead to further neutron captures in the short lifetime of 210 po instead 210 po alpha decays to 206 pb which then captures more neutrons to become 210 po and repeats the cycle thus consuming the remaining neutrons this results in a buildup of lead and bismuth and ensures that heavier elements such as thorium and uranium are only produced in the much faster r process 12 production edit deliberate edit although 210 po occurs in trace amounts in nature it is not abundant enough 0 1 ppb for extraction from uranium ore to be feasible instead most 210 po is produced synthetically through neutron bombardment of 209 bi in a nuclear reactor this process converts 209 bi to 210 bi which has a half life of five days and beta decays to 210 po 13 through this method it was reported in february 2007 that approximately 8 grams 0 28 oz of 210 po was produced in russia and shipped to the united states every month for commercial applications 5 byproduct edit the production of polonium 210 is a downside to reactors cooled with lead bismuth eutectic rather than pure lead however given the eutectic properties of this alloy some proposed generation iv reactor designs still rely on lead bismuth applications edit a single gram of 210 po generates 140 watts of power as heat 14 because it emits many alpha particles which are stopped within a very short distance in dense media and release their energy 210 po has been used as a lightweight heat source to power thermoelectric cells in artificial satellites a 210 po heat source was also in each of the lunokhod rovers deployed on the surface of the moon to keep their internal components warm during the lunar nights 15 some anti static brushes used for neutralizing static electricity on materials like photographic film contain a few microcuries of 210 po as a source of charged particles 16 210 po was also used in initiators for atomic bombs through the α n reaction with beryllium 17 small neutron sources reliant on the α n reaction also usually use polonium as a convenient source of alpha particles due to its comparatively low gamma emissions allowing easy shielding and high specific activity hazards edit main article polonium biology and toxicity 210 po is extremely toxic it and other polonium isotopes are some of the most radiotoxic substances to humans 7 18 with one microgram of 210 po being more than enough to kill the average adult it is 250 000 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide by weight 19 this is a consequence of its ionizing alpha radiation as alpha particles are especially damaging to organic tissues inside the body however 210 po does not pose a radiation hazard when kept outside the body 20 the alpha particles it produces cannot penetrate the outer layer of dead skin cells 21 the toxicity of 210 po stems entirely from its radioactivity it is not chemically toxic in itself but its solubility in aqueous solution as well as that of its salts poses a hazard because its spread throughout the body is facilitated in solution 7 intake of 210 po occurs primarily through contaminated air food or water as well as through open wounds once inside the body 210 po concentrates in soft tissues especially in the reticuloendothelial system and the bloodstream its biological half life is approximately 50 days 22 in the environment 210 po can accumulate in seafood 23 it has been detected in various organisms in the baltic sea where it can propagate in and thus contaminate the food chain 18 210 po is also known to contaminate vegetation primarily originating from the decay of atmospheric radon 222 and absorption from soil 24 in particular 210 po attaches to and concentrates in tobacco leaves 5 22 elevated concentrations of 210 po in tobacco were documented as early as 1964 and cigarette smokers were thus found to be exposed to considerably greater doses of radiation from 210 po and its parent 210 pb 24 heavy smokers may be exposed to the same amount of radiation estimates vary from 100 µsv 18 to 160 msv 25 per year as individuals in poland were from chernobyl fallout traveling from ukraine 18 as a result 210 po is most dangerous when inhaled from cigarette smoke 26 references edit 1 2 3 kondev f g wang m huang w j naimi s audi g 2021 the nubase2020 evaluation of nuclear properties pdf chinese physics c 45 3 030001 doi 10 1088 1674 1137 abddae wang meng huang w j kondev f g audi g naimi s 2021 the ame 2020 atomic mass evaluation ii tables graphs and references chinese physics c 45 3 030003 doi 10 1088 1674 1137 abddaf 1 2 national nuclear data center nudat 3 0 database brookhaven national laboratory thoennessen m 2016 the discovery of isotopes a complete compilation springer pp 6 8 doi 10 1007 978 3 319 31763 2 isbn 978 3 319 31761 8 lccn 2016935977 1 2 3 roessler g 2007 why 210 po pdf health physics news vol 35 no 2 health physics society archived pdf from the original on 2014 04 03 retrieved 2019 06 20 idaho national laboratory 2015 the early years space nuclear power systems take flight pdf atomic power in space ii a history of space nuclear power and propulsion in the united states pp 2 5 oclc 931595589 1 2 3 mcfee r b leikin j b 2009 death by polonium 210 lessons learned from the murder of former soviet spy alexander litvinenko seminars in diagnostic pathology 26 1 61 67 doi 10 1053 j semdp 2008 12 003 pmid 19292030 cowell a november 24 2006 radiation poisoning killed ex russian spy the new york times archived from the original on june 19 2019 retrieved june 19 2019 arafat s death what is polonium 210 al jazeera july 10 2012 archived from the original on june 19 2019 retrieved june 19 2019 sweeney j 2022 killer in the kremlin penguin p 120 isbn 9781804991206 c r hammond the elements pdf fermi national accelerator laboratory pp 4 22 archived pdf from the original on 2008 06 26 retrieved 2019 06 19 burbidge e m burbidge g r fowler w a hoyle f 1957 synthesis of the elements in stars reviews of modern physics 29 4 547 650 bibcode 1957rvmp 29 547b doi 10 1103 revmodphys 29 547 polonium 210 pdf december 2006 archived from the original pdf on 2022 02 19 polonium pdf argonne national laboratory archived from the original pdf on 2012 03 10 a wilson solar system log london jane s publishing company ltd 1987 p 64 isbn missing staticmaster alpha ionizing brush company 7 archived from the original on 2018 09 27 retrieved 2019 06 19 hoddeson l henriksen p w meade r a 2004 critical assembly a technical history of los alamos during the oppenheimer years 1943 1945 cambridge university press isbn 978 0 521 54117 6 1 2 3 4 skwarzec b strumińska d i boryło a 2006 radionuclides of iron 55 fe nickel 63 ni polonium 210 po uranium 234 u 235 u 238 u and plutonium 238 pu 239 240 pu 241 pu in poland and baltic sea environment pdf nukleonika 51 s45 s51 archived pdf from the original on 2019 06 19 retrieved 2019 06 19 ahmed m f alam l mohamed c a r mokhtar m b ta g c 2018 health risk of polonium 210 ingestion via drinking water an experience of malaysia international journal of environmental research and public health 15 10 2056 1 2056 19 doi 10 3390 ijerph15102056 pmc 6210456 pmid 30241360 radiation studies cdc radiation polonium 210 cdc rsb www cdc gov 2019 02 11 retrieved 2022 11 14 penetration abilities of different types of radiation www cdc gov retrieved 2022 11 14 1 2 frequently asked questions about polonium 210 pdf report centers for disease control and prevention archived pdf from the original on 7 june 2017 retrieved 19 june 2019 richter f wagmann m zehringer m 2012 polonium on the trace of a powerful alpha nuclide in the environment chimia international journal for chemistry 66 3 131 doi 10 2533 chimia 2012 131 archived from the original on 2019 02 17 retrieved 2019 06 19 1 2 persson b r r holm e 2009 polonium 210 and lead 210 in the terrestrial environment a historical review international topical conference on po and radioactive pb isotopes seville spain f typical sources of radiation exposure national institute of health archived from the original on 2013 06 13 retrieved 2019 06 20 radford e p hunt v r 1964 polonium 210 a volatile radioelement in cigarettes science 143 3603 247 249 bibcode 1964sci 143 247r doi 10 1126 science 143 3603 247 jstor 1712451 pmid 14078362 s2cid 23455633 retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title polonium 210 oldid 1367028731 categories isotopes of polonium carcinogens tobacco radioisotope fuels poisons hidden categories articles with short description short description matches wikidata isotope content page pages with missing isbns this page was last edited on 31 july 2026 at 14 31 utc page was rendered with parsoid text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike 4 0 license additional terms may apply by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc a non profit organization privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia legal safety contacts code of conduct developers statistics cookie statement mobile view search search toggle the table of contents polonium 210 17 languages add topic