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Polonium-210 Hidden in Cigarettes, Says Study by the Mayo Clinic and Stanford University 

A new study shows that tobacco companies suppressed their own internal research on Polonium-210 - minute amounts of which killed former KGB agent Alexander V. Litvinenko - so as to avoid "waking a sleeping giant" as a Philip Morris memo put it, and that it causes as much radiation exposure as 300 chest X-rays a year, is responsible for 1% of all U.S. lung cancers, and more than 1,600 U.S. deaths and over 11,000 deaths worldwide every year.

The study, by the Mayo Clinic and Stanford University, found that cigarette makers "continue to minimize its [polonium-210's] importance in smoking and health litigation and remain silent on the issue on their Web sites and in their messages to consumers." . . .

Unfortunately, the bill before Congress to give the FDA authority to regulate cigarettes, while prohibiting the use of most arguably-benign flavorings like clove and peppermint, does not require the removal or even any decrease in the toxic gases (like cyanide), more than 40 other cancer-causing chemicals (like benzene), or radioactive substances (like plutonium or uranium).

By coincidence, a study just yesterday showed that the tobacco industry manipulated menthol levels in an effort to attract young children into smoking

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