[qb45]

That's an interesting question because it's the first time I hear about radium in artificial fertilizers. Will need to dig into these Wikipedia sources.

That tobacco contains lead and polonium had been known for decades, but I used to think that it originated from the decay of natural atmospheric radon and these plants just had some unusual tendency to accumulate heavy metals.

Maybe I should put my tinfoil hat on and run away from non-organic food too?

edit:

From the first source:

Tobacco farmers in developed countries primarily use manufactured fertilizer high in phosphates produced from apatite rock that contains radium-226 and descendant radioisotopes such as lead-210 and PO-210. Tobacco is a unique agricultural crop in that its flavor depends on nitrogen reduction, which occurs through the repeated application of high-phosphate fertilizers. The higher the phosphate level of the fertilizer, the higher the concentration of PO-210 in the tobacco plant. Tobacco grown in certain developing countries has approximately one third less radioactivity than tobacco grown in developed countries, and the radioactivity of tobacco grown in the United States has increased over time.

So maybe you are right.

[searine]

The USDA Organic label allows for mined phosphate and potassium to be used on organic farms.