What is the level of risk from Polonium-210?
Polonium-210 can only represent a radiation hazard if it is taken into the body – by breathing it in, by taking it into the mouth, or if it gets into a wound. It is not a radiological hazard as long as it remains outside the body. Most traces of it can be eliminated through hand-washing, or washing machine and dishwasher cycles for clothes, plates etc. In the limited public areas where contamination has been found, this has been in small spots, where it is fixed and not easily transferred to hands or clothes. It is important to remember that very small amounts of Po-210 occur naturally within the environment, in the air we breathe and the food we eat. It is also present in cigarettes. Everybody has low levels of Po-210 in their bodies which are not harmful to health.
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