Determination of 210Po content of vietnamese tobacco samples

• Published in: Central European journal of chemistry 2014-11, Vol.12 (11), p.1127-1132
• Main Authors: Kovács, Tibor, Horváth, Maria, Sas, Zoltán, Dung, Bui Dac, Minh, Tran Khanh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biochemistry; Biological and Medical Physics; Biophysics; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Cigarette; Geochemistry; Lung cancer; Pipe tobacco; Polonium; Short Communication; Smoking
• ISSN: 1895-1066; 2391-5420; 1644-3624; 2391-5420
• DOI: 10.2478/s11532-014-0569-4

Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable death. In recent years, numerous countries have initiated the prohibition of smoking in restaurants, workplaces and public spaces. The Vietnamese government intends to follow the precautions against public smoking as well. Over and above the number of some hazardous chemical components found in tobacco, 210 Po isotope content could enhance the probability of the development of lung cancer. In this study 14 Vietnamese tobacco products (commercial cigarettes and pipe tobacco) 210 Po activity concentration were determined using PIPS semiconductor alpha spectrometry. The results showed that the 210Po activity concentration of the investigated samples varied between 7.40 ± 1.09–128.64 ± 11.22 mBq g −1 . The average 210 Po content of commercial cigarettes was 15.5 mBq g −1 , whilst the average of pipe tobacco was 20.4 mBq g −1 . To estimate the risk of inhalation of 210 Po isotopes originating as a result of smoking, dose estimations were carried out.