The article "Radioactive Smoke: A Dangerous Isotope Lurks in Cigarettes" in the January 2011 issue of Scientific American details how tobacco plants accumulate a radioactive isotope of polonium, which can create deadly "hot spots" in smokers' lungs. The tobacco industry has known about the danger for decades but has not taken measures to remove it.

Here are some recently declassified documents (all PDF) from the tobacco industry:

Memo to Paul Eichorn about polonium results

Handwritten note from Eichorn

"Signficant Scientific Accomplishments" of Polonium Studies

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6 Comments

1. 1. petemicus 09:34 AM 1/5/11

   I learned pot ash or potassium was in the decay chain of uranium in physics class at a small west Texas school back in 1987. Pot ash is used to enrich the soil for tobacco plants. This information has been public knowledge forever. Wake up sheep. You are being lied to.

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2. 2. brian01 09:57 AM 1/5/11

   Does anyone else find it funny that the recently declassified documents that appear in this article have been removed? Maybe it's just me...

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3. 3. ViperPete in reply to petemicus 10:20 AM 1/5/11

   Spoken like someone who has not a clue about nuclear decay and stable elements nor about gardening and agriculture.
   
   I suggest you do a little reading about what happens once an unstable element decays to a stable one:
   
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay
   
   and here is a good starting point for you to start learning about the agricultural uses of potassium.
   
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium#Applications
   
   by the way, bananas are a great source of dietary potassium, without which you would get hypokalemia, the symptoms being:
   
   Fatigue
   Patient may experience problems such as Myalgia and muscular weakness
   Patient may experience hyponatremia and also may experience confused i.e. anxiety.
   Acme problem
   Skin related problems such as blistering, skin eruptions, dryness of skin.
   Temporary memory loss or problems such as weak memory.
   Patient is prone to heart related problems, such as heart deterioration.
   Digestive system also may get affected due to potassium deficiency leading to hypertension, improper sleep, nervous system deterioration, depression, constipation.
   In some cases patient may experience ringing/noise in ear.
   

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4. 4. currentresident 01:31 PM 1/7/11

   Smokers are 25 percent of the american population but 85 percent of the prison population. The same epidemiological mathematics that proves smoking causes cancer also proves smoking causes crime. Making cigarettes safer will increase the social acceptability of smoking this will lead to an increase in crime. Removing polonium from tobacco will not save lives.

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5. 5. brian01 in reply to currentresident 02:23 PM 1/7/11

   "Making cigarettes safer will increase the social acceptability of smoking this will lead to an increase in crime."
   
   This is too funny to even debate, but I had to point out how absolutely ridiculous this statement is... unbelievable.

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6. 6. Tephen Helfer 03:39 PM 3/7/11

   Stephen Helfer
   
   In epidemiological mathematics correlation does not mean causation. Because 85% of prison inmates, as opposed to 25% of non-inmates, are smokers, does not mean smoking causes criminal behavior.
   
   Likewise, because a higher percentage of smokers get lung cancer, does not, in and of itself "prove" smoking causes the disease.

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