Study of radiotoxic 210Po in Indian tobacco using liquid scintillation spectrometry

Abstract

Abstract A fast radioanalytical method has been developed to measure 210Po in tobacco samples. After microwave digestion polonium is extracted quantitatively from a 1 M hydrochloric acid solution into a solution of triisooctylamine in toluene. The extract was measured by liquid scintillation counting in α mode. Caused by the high counting efficiency the counting time per sample can be reduced significantly compared to conventional α spectrometry, allowing for high sample throughput. The method was applied to 11 brands of cigarettes, beedis and or chewing tobaccos from India. Based on the resulting activity concentrations and typical consumption habits, annual and lifetime equivalent doses were calculated. They were found to be ~100–700 μSv/a or ~5–35 mSv, respectively.