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Spies, Subterfuge, Missions and Murder
Published in Alan Perkins, Life and Death Rays, 2021
Just how someone would get hold of polonium for criminal acts is uncertain. Around 100 grams a year of polonium-210 is manufactured worldwide in nuclear reactors. At the time of the poisoning there were no reported thefts of this material, although there was some concern of lack of security in some eastern European countries. There was one scientist in the UK who was in a position to offer some insight as to the origin of the material. Norman Dombey was Emeritus Professor of theoretical Physics at the University of Sussex in Brighton. He had extensive knowledge of international nuclear weapons programmes, spoke Russian and had spent a year at Moscow state university in the 1960s and visited again in 1988. After various inquiries and experiments he concluded that the polonium had been made at the Mayak nuclear facility in Russia. The very same facility that was described in Chapter 10 and considered to be one of the most radioactive places on earth! Once the material had been produced at the Mayak reactor facility the Russian state poison laboratories had a great deal of knowledge and expertise on how this could be prepared and deployed to commit a political assassination.
Environmental Inhaled Agents and Their Relation to Lung Cancer
Published in Jacob Loke, Pathophysiology and Treatment of Inhalation Injuries, 2020
Tobacco smoke is a complex mixture of more than 2000 chemicals many of which have been shown to be carcinogens, both in the gas phase (e.g., N-nitrosocompounds) and particulate phase (e.g., benzo(a)pyrene and 5-methylchrysene as tumor initiators, volatile phenols as tumor promoters, and lungspecific carcinogens such as polonium 210 and nickel compounds) (Harris, 1983; Wynder and Hoffmann, 1982). Polonium 210 (210Po) is of particular interest as there has been recent renewed interest implicating radiation from cigarette smoking as a major causative factor in lung cancer (Martell, 1983; Winters and DiFrenza, 1983). a-Emitting radioisotopes from soils, particularly the longliving 210Po, are concentrated on tobacco trichomes, which persist when tobacco is dried and processed. They would appear in cigarette smoke (Martell, 1974) and on inhalation would deposit at the bronchus to irradiate the tissues there. The passive smoker is exposed to the same radioelements in the tobacco as the active smoker. A second source of radiation exposure relates to radon and its daughters emanating from soils and building materials, which occur in much higher concentrations indoor than outdoors. Smoke particles act as condensation nuclei for radon daughters to keep them airborne, and hence the exposure of the passive smoker to naturally occurring radon daughters is increased in a smoky environment (Winters and DiFrenza, 1983).
Experimental Lung Carcinogenesis by Intratracheal Instillation
Published in Joan Gil, Models of Lung Disease, 2020
In recent years, PACs, especially B(a)P, have been used in studies of cocarcinogenic or syncarcinogenic effects of environmental or occupational hazards. Ishinishi et al. (1977) and Pershagen et al. (1984) found indications of a synergism between arsenic trioxide and B(a)P in rats and hamsters. Shabad et al. (1974) also found indication of a synergism between chrysotile asbestos and B(a)P. Little et al. (1978) investigated the interaction between instilled B(a)P and polonium 210 radiation in the induction of lung cancer in Syrian golden hamsters. They observed additive effects after simultaneous administration. A significant synergistic interaction between the two agents also occurred when B(a)P exposure followed 4 months after 210Po exposure. Metivier et al. (1984) also demonstrated multiplicative effects of IT-instilled B(a)P and inhaled plutonium oxide on lung carcinogenesis in rats. Kobayashi and Okamoto (1974) examined the carcinogenic effects of lead oxide and/or B(a)P in Syrian golden hamsters by IT instillation. They found bronchiolar-alveolar adenomas and adenocarcinomas in the lungs of hamsters given B(a)P mixed with lead oxide, whereas no tumors occurred in the other groups. Heinrich et al. (1986) examined the syncarcinogenic effects of diesel exhaust after administration of PACs or N-nitroso compounds in rats, hamsters, or mice. They found synergistic effects only in rats.
Novichok: a murderous nerve agent attack in the UK
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2018
J. Allister Vale, Timothy C. Marrs, Robert L. Maynard
On 7 March 2018, it was announced that the Skripals had been exposed to “nerve agent” and on the 12 March 2018 the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, told the House of Commons that this was a Novichok nerve agent. This finding has been confirmed independently by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) [3]. OPCW experts visited the locations where the victims were exposed and collected environmental samples. The OPCW team also took biomedical samples from the three exposed individuals. The results of analysis by the OPCW designated laboratories confirmed the findings made by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), Porton Down, relating to the identity of the agent [3]. In addition, OPCW confirmed that that the chemical employed in Salisbury was of high purity, a conclusion drawn on the basis of the almost complete absence of impurities [3]. Speculation as to the source of the compound and as to how it was deployed has continued. DSTL established that the highest concentrations of agent were found on the handle of Mr Skripal's front door and that it was deposited as a liquid [4]. Sir Mark Sedwill, the UK's National Security Adviser, stated on 13 April 2018, “We therefore continue to judge that only Russia has the technical means, operational experience and motive for the attack on the Skripals and that it is highly likely that the Russian state was responsible. There is no plausible alternative explanation” [4]. This is not the first incident of this kind on UK soil; the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko using polonium-210 occurred in 2006 [5].
Correlation between cytogenetic biomarkers obtained from DC and CBMN assays caused by low dose radon exposure in smokers
Published in International Journal of Radiation Biology, 2019
During the combustion process of tobacco smoke, more than 4000 different chemicals are generated out of which more than 40 compounds are carcinogenic. However the radiation from polonium 210Po which is a radioactive product of radon is the most powerful carcinogen in tobacco (Kuper et al. 2002). Compared to non-smokers the presence of 210Po in the lungs of smokers are three times higher (Smith et al. 2000). Published reports suggests that the lung cancer risk for smokers are 10 times higher than that of non-smokers (Mehra et al. 2006; Nain, Chauhan et al. 2008, Nain, Gupta et al. 2008).