2006-12-01 11:46:05 · 6 answers · asked by angelajunkins 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
It's not too difficult to detect after-the-fact. The material has a half-life of 138 days, so it will be radioactive long after you're dead or after it's left your system. If you happen to still be alive at the time, your body tries to get rid of it through just about every means available, so small amounts will be found in sweat, urine, and just about every other bodily fluid.
It typically causes death by radiation exposure rather than the toxicity of polonium as a chemical. Polonium emits a high volume of alpha particles, which can cause a lot of damage but only out to a range of a few inches. So a victim has to breathe or eat the stuff to be harmed, and you can stand next to someone whose tissues are saturated with polonium and be pretty safe yourself (unless you also manage to breathe some in that their body is getting rid of).
Part of the danger from the element lies in the fact that your body will readily distribute the material internally (which is how it can also get rid of it). So it's not just a matter of irradiating your kidneys so you need new kidneys... it will cause cell and genetic damage throughout your entire body. And because it is so energetic an emitter, only one milligram of the stuff is necessary to kill someone. That's so little that it's not likely to be visible to the naked eye, even if it was in one solid chunk.
Fortunately for all of us, polonium-210 is hard to come by. It occurs naturally in miniscule amounts, but to get enough to kill someone usually requires access to a nuclear power plant. Which is why being killed by polonium is almost certainly a political crime - only governments typically have those kinds of resources.
2006-12-01 11:52:13 · answer #1 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The alpha particles produced by each different species of alpha emitter have a characteristic kinetic energy. I think it's 5.4 MeV for 210 Po. So if you see alpha particles with that energy you know what's producing them.
2006-12-01 11:53:49 · answer #2 · answered by Robert A 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By looking for alpha particles, they are produced in the radioactive decay of the isotope
2006-12-01 11:51:44 · answer #3 · answered by Redsfan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The easiest way would be to get a geiger counter. It would detect any high radiation levels. But seriously, how would you get it?
2006-12-01 11:54:11 · answer #4 · answered by Simon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask Putin
2006-12-01 11:47:51 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Drink a little of it.
If it's bitter and burns away at your organs, it's probably polonium.
If it's sweet and sugary, it's probably Kool-Aid.
2006-12-01 11:55:17 · answer #6 · answered by chemicalimbalance000 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋