Radioactivity of cigarettes and the importance of 210Po and thorium isotopes for radiation dose assessment due to smoking

Publication date: May 2016
Source:Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Volumes 155–156
Author(s): Davor Kubalek, Gregor Serša, Marko Štrok, Ljudmila Benedik, Zvonka Jeran
Tobacco and tobacco smoke are very complex mixtures. In addition to various chemical and organic compounds they also contain natural radioactive elements (radionuclides). In this work, the natural radionuclide activity concentrations (²³⁴U, ²³⁸U, ²²⁸Th, ²³⁰Th, ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po) of nine different cigarette samples available on the Slovenian market are reported. In addition to ²¹⁰Po, the transfer of thorium isotopes from a cigarette to a smoker's body and lungs have been determined for the first time. Cigarette smoke and exhaled air from smokers' lungs were collected from volunteer smokers (C-4 brand) to determinate what quantity of ²¹⁰Po and thorium isotopes is transferred from the tobacco to the smoker's lungs. Cigarette ash and smoked filters were also collected and analysed. Among the determined isotopes, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po showed the highest activity concentrations. During the smoking of one cigarette approximately 22% of ²¹⁰Po (and presumably its predecessor ²¹⁰Pb), 0.6% of ²²⁸Th, 24% of ²³⁰Th, and 31% of ²³²Th are transferred from the cigarette and retained in the smoker's body. The estimated annual effective dose for smokers is 61 μSv/year from ²¹⁰Po; 9 μSv/year from ²¹⁰Pb; 6 μSv/year from ²²⁸Th; 47 μSv/year from ²³⁰Th, and 37 μSv/year from ²³²Th. These results show the importance of thorium isotopes in contributing to the annual effective dose for smoking.

Graphical abstract

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