Lead-210 and polonium-210 in human tissues

Abstract

IT has recently been shown1 that appreciable amounts of lead-210 and polonium-210 may occur in certain human foodstuffs as a result of deposition from the atmosphere of long-lived radon decay-products (Table 1). Absorption of these products may therefore occur by both inhalation and ingestion, but, although measurements of the activity of lead-210 in many human bone samples have been reported3-6, the ratio of polonium-210 to lead-210 in bone and the activities of these nuclides in human soft tissues have been reported in only a few samples1,3,7,8. This communication describes the results of preliminary radiochemical estimations of polonium-210 and lead-210 in human bone and soft tissue samples. © 1963 Nature Publishing Group.