Originally Posted by
mary_hinge
Not sure if I’ve missed this but:
Have BA only checked these 2 or 3 aircraft? If so it would be interesting to test a further batch of aircraft, perhaps BMI, Virgin, a couple of charter and a freight operator or 2.
See if this also gives a reading for Polonium 210
From what I have read, the authorities have detected a very low level of radioactivity. They have not indicated what element(s) were detected, nor where the radioactivity was detected on the plane.
If indeed it was polonium 210 detected, they have not indicated whether the levels were consistent with natural background levels, or significantly higher.
I am willing to wager that you could take any three planes in the BA fleet and detect very low levels of raqdioactivity, even Polonium 210 perhaps.
As for becoming poisoned by having been a passenger on one of these flights, virtually zero chance. After all, anyone who smokes is poisoning him- or herself with polonium 210 every day.
Polonium-210, which emits alpha particles, is a natural contaminant of tobacco. For an individual smoking two packages of cigarettes a day, the radiation dose to bronchial epithelium from Po210 inhaled in cigarette smoke probably is at least seven times that from background sources, and in localized areas may be up to 1000 rem or more in 25 years. Radiation from this source may, therefore, be significant in the genesis of bronchial cancer in smokers. Science 17 January 1964: Vol. 143. no. 3603, pp. 247 - 249
DOI: 10.1126/science.143.3603.247
I've read that the levels of polonium in tobacco have increased in recent years, apparently from greater use of phosphates to fertilize the fields, with plants taking up the polonium and metabolizing it.
It would be interesting to see what the level of polonium 210 might be on one's clothing after a long night in a smoke-filled pub.