The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Litvinenko was a former member o

Question

The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko Alexander Litvinenko was a former member of the Russian Federal Security Service and KGB who sought and was granted political asylum in Great Britain. While in Britain, he wrote books exposing several embarrassing things about Russian politics, including President Vladimir Putin. In 2006, he was poisoned and died. Who poisoned Alexander and how it was done? What was the poison? What is considered a lethal dose and how much of the poison did Alexander receive? What are the toxic effects of this poison? How did the poison affect him and cause his death? Why was this poison so difficult to detect?

Explanation / Answer

Italian officer and nuclear expert, Mario Scaramella, poisoned Alexander

poison used was polonium 210

The symptoms seen in Litvinenko appeared consistent with an administered activity of approximately 2 GBq (50 mCi) which corresponds to about 10 micrograms of 210Po. That is 200 times the median lethal dose of around 238 Ci or 50 nanograms in the case of ingestion

an alpha-emitting substance such as polonium can cause significant damage only if ingested or inhaled, acting on living cells like a short-range weapon

polonium-210 emits very little gamma radiation, but large amounts of alpha particles which do not penetrate even a sheet of paper or the epidermis of human skin, and is therefore invisible to normal radiation detectors.

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