Re: Po-210 in tobacco

[NeilKeeney@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/30/01 7:59:27 PM Central Daylight Time, 

kajohans@powercom.net writes:



<< The Po-210 in tobacco does come from the air. The

 mechanism is as follows:

 Radon diffuses from the ground.  As the radon decays it becomes

 charged.  The charged atom is attached to small airborne particles

 called Aiken particles.  The particle assumes the charge of the charged

 atom.  Now, the underside of the tobacco leaf has many fine, hair like

 appendages which results in a large surface area for charged particle

 attachment.  The charged Aiken particles become attached to this "fuzz." >>



I've heard this same thing since I was a little tyke RRPT - the particles 

attach to the leaf hairs and this is the main reservoir of Po-210.  First I 

heard it was in the early eighties.  There was also a twist on this in that 

the fertilizer that was utilized exacerbated this condition because it 

contained a higher concentration of Potash that resulted in the leaves 

becoming charged particle (organic) magnets...



All this was, of course, verbal data and was more of a conversation piece in 

those days before Second-hand smoke issues...



Neil Keeney 

RRPT