Is radium only present in tobacco fertilizers? What separates tobacco fertilizers from other plant fertilizers? Am I at risk for eating tomatoes grown with normal off-the-shelf fertilizer?
Well, don’t eat the tomato leaves for one. If you compare the mass of undried tobacco leaves to a similar amount of food, I would guess similar exposures. I would also guess that the fruit contains more water, therefore a slightly less concentration of radiation.
It’s also about the system, lungs vs digestion. Digestion has been dealing with natural radiation for longer than we have been smoking.
Good question!
I also want to point out things like strawberries are irradiated on purpose to extend shelf life, not the same thing as radionuclides in the food, but a nice example of radiation protecting the food supply and preventing quick spoilage.
Edit: I think all fertilizers are the same, mostly from petrochemical stock. Nothing separating tobacco and food fertilizer.
Most food is irradiated, yes. Prevents potatoes from sprouting, sterilizes tons of food, etc. I am very familiar with that, but didn't realize that radionuclides were ever-present in fertilizers.
I grow my own tea, and use fertilizer. Am I at risk for the same issues after processing the leaves? Additionally, would this then extend to cannabis as well? While they aren't leaves, I'm assuming that radium would end up there as well if in the fertilizer.
I guess what I'm trying to say is what is it specifically about tobacco - is it the mechanism of intake of the tobacco plant specifically, is it a property of all plants and fertilizer, or is it only a property of specific parts of all plants?
No, far from it. Extremely little food is irradiated.
"103,000 tonnes of food products were irradiated on mainland United States in 2010"
"6,876 tonnes of food products were irradiated in European Union countries in 2013"
The average American consumes a tonne of food per year, and the average European probably isn't much different. That's 0.03% of food in the USA, and less than 0.001% respectively.
To your last question--as a severely amateur player in this one: tomato and tobacco are both nightshades so I imagine the growth of the leafing parts are similar in action.
Hopefully someone else will either correct me or elaborate.
Radium is also present in Brazil Nuts. Some plants aggregate chemical elements more than others.
We use them to linearize the energy scale in lower-background germanium detectors. Grocery-store potassium chloride sets our energy calibration.
The bad thing about radium in tobacco, I am told, is that the alpha-emitting radium (or the daughters) tends to aggregate in the lungs. Alphas do a lot of nearby damage, hence a mechanism for lung cancer.
I still eat Brazil nuts without a second thought, even though I've measured the gammas...
Alpha is the worst internally (than gamma or beta) because it's a big particle (2 protons, 2 neutrons) and does lots of damage internally but can't pass through skin or clothes, so externally it's less dangerous. Additionally, the alpha particle can cause minerals in the body to become radioactive, thus extending the danger.
Tobacco is radioactive because the radioactive particles stick to the trichromes. Tomatoes don’t have trichromes, so no, unless you’re eating the leaves.
This is specific to tobacco: firstly that the tobacco leaves pick up trace amounts of polonium-210, and secondly that inhaling tobacco smoke concentrates the Po-210 into localised deposits within the lung. Because Po-210 is a short range alpha emitter, these deposits deliver a significant radiation dose to small areas of lung epithelium. This dose is believed to contribute to the carcinogenic effect of tobacco smoke.
Eating vegetables does not lead to tissue irradiation in this manner. You are not at risk from eating tomatoes (or other fruit and veg) whether or not they are fertilized with rock phosphate.
I wish they made that more clear as well. They do say that these things get stuck on the leaves. Most vegetables get washed at some point before you eat them.
It’s also about the system, lungs vs digestion. Digestion has been dealing with natural radiation for longer than we have been smoking.
Good question!
I also want to point out things like strawberries are irradiated on purpose to extend shelf life, not the same thing as radionuclides in the food, but a nice example of radiation protecting the food supply and preventing quick spoilage.
Edit: I think all fertilizers are the same, mostly from petrochemical stock. Nothing separating tobacco and food fertilizer.