The polonium-210 poisoning of Mr Alexander Litvinenko

doi:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/aa58a7

Title: The polonium-210 poisoning of Mr Alexander Litvinenko

Full Record
Other Related Research

Abstract

Mr Litvinenko died on 23rd November 2006 after having been poisoned with polonium-210 on 1st November. Measurements of the polonium-210 content of post-mortem tissue samples and samples of urine and blood showed the presence of large amounts of ²¹⁰Po. Furthermore, autoradiography of hair samples showed two regions of 210Po activity, providing evidence of an earlier poisoning attempt during October 2006, resulting in absorption to blood of about one-hundredth of that estimated for 1st November. Intake by ingestion on 1st November was estimated to be around 4 GBq, assuming 10% absorption to blood, and the resulting organ doses reached estimated values that were generally in a range from about 20 Gy to over 100 Gy. In comparison with estimates of protracted alpha particle the doses required to cause irreversible organ damage support the conclusion that death was the inevitable consequence of multiple organ failure, with destruction of the haemopoietic bone marrow, as well as damage to kidneys and liver, being important contributors. If the earlier poisoning during October 2006 had not been followed by a second major intake on 1st November, it is possible that the earlier intake of around 40 MBq, with absorption of 4 MBq to blood, mightmore »« less

Authors:

Harrison, John ^[1]; Fell, Tim ^[2]; Leggett, Rich ^[3]; Lloyd, David ^[2]; Puncher, Matthew ^[2]; Youngman, Mike ^[2]

Oxford Brookes Univ. (United Kingdom); Center for Radiation, Didcot (United Kingdom)
Center for Radiation, Didcot (United Kingdom)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Publication Date:: 2017-02-28

Research Org.:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1346669

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:: Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Journal of Radiological Protection

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 37; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0952-4746

Publisher:: IOP Publishing

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY; Polonium-210; poison; dose assessment; organ damage

Citation Formats


                    Harrison, John, Fell, Tim, Leggett, Rich, Lloyd, David, Puncher, Matthew, and Youngman, Mike. The polonium-210 poisoning of Mr Alexander Litvinenko.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
        Web.  doi:10.1088/1361-6498/aa58a7.

Copy to clipboard


                    Harrison, John, Fell, Tim, Leggett, Rich, Lloyd, David, Puncher, Matthew, & Youngman, Mike. The polonium-210 poisoning of Mr Alexander Litvinenko.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/aa58a7

Copy to clipboard


                    Harrison, John, Fell, Tim, Leggett, Rich, Lloyd, David, Puncher, Matthew, and Youngman, Mike. Tue .  
        "The polonium-210 poisoning of Mr Alexander Litvinenko".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/aa58a7.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1346669.

Copy to clipboard


                    
@article{osti_1346669,

  title        = {The polonium-210 poisoning of Mr Alexander Litvinenko},

  author       = {Harrison, John and Fell, Tim and Leggett, Rich and Lloyd, David and Puncher, Matthew and Youngman, Mike},

  abstractNote = {Mr Litvinenko died on 23rd November 2006 after having been poisoned with polonium-210 on 1st November. Measurements of the polonium-210 content of post-mortem tissue samples and samples of urine and blood showed the presence of large amounts of 210Po. Furthermore, autoradiography of hair samples showed two regions of 210Po activity, providing evidence of an earlier poisoning attempt during October 2006, resulting in absorption to blood of about one-hundredth of that estimated for 1st November. Intake by ingestion on 1st November was estimated to be around 4 GBq, assuming 10% absorption to blood, and the resulting organ doses reached estimated values that were generally in a range from about 20 Gy to over 100 Gy. In comparison with estimates of protracted alpha particle the doses required to cause irreversible organ damage support the conclusion that death was the inevitable consequence of multiple organ failure, with destruction of the haemopoietic bone marrow, as well as damage to kidneys and liver, being important contributors. If the earlier poisoning during October 2006 had not been followed by a second major intake on 1st November, it is possible that the earlier intake of around 40 MBq, with absorption of 4 MBq to blood, might have proved fatal over a prolonged period of months or years, primarily as a result of kidney damage following a dose of approaching 3 Gy.},

  doi          = {10.1088/1361-6498/aa58a7},

  url          = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1346669},
  journal      = {Journal of Radiological Protection},

  issn         = {0952-4746},

  number       = 1,

  volume       = 37,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2017},

  month        = {2}

}

Copy to clipboard

Journal Article:

Free Publicly Available Full Text

Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Publisher's Version of Record

https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/aa58a7

Other availability

Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 2 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Export Metadata

Save to My Library

Similar records in OSTI.GOV collections:

Mortality Among Mound Workers Exposed to Polonium-210 and Other Sources of Radiation, 1944–1979

Journal Article Boice, John D. ; Cohen, Sarah S. ; Mumma, Michael T. ; ... - Radiation Research

Polonium-210 is a naturally occurring radioactive element that decays by emitting an alpha particle. It is in the air we breathe and also a component of tobacco smoke. Polonium-210 is used as an anti-static device in printing presses and gained widespread notoriety in 2006 after the poisoning and subsequent death of a Russian citizen in London. More is known about the lethal effects of polonium-210 at high doses than about late effects from low doses. In this paper, cancer mortality was examined among 7,270 workers at the Mound nuclear facility near Dayton, OH where polonium-210 was used (1944–1972) in combinationmore »« less
Cited by 10
https://doi.org/10.1667/RR13395.1

Full Text Available
Primate polonium metabolic models and their use in estimation of systemic radiation doses from bioassay data. Final report

Technical Report Cohen, N

A Polonium metabolic model was derived and incorporated into a Fortran algorithm which estimates the systemic radiation dose from {sup 210}Po when applied to occupational urine bioassay data. The significance of the doses estimated are examined by defining the degree of uncertainty attached to them through comprehensive statistical testing procedures. Many parameters necessary for dosimetry calculations (such as organ partition coefficients and excretion fractions), were evaluated from metabolic studies of {sup 210}Po in non-human primates. Two tamarins and six baboons were injected intravenously with {sup 210}Po citrate. Excreta and blood samples were collected. Five of the baboons were sacrificed atmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/283755

Full Text Available
Kidney disease in beagles injected with polonium-210

Journal Article Bruenger, F W ; Lloyd, R D ; Taylor, G N ; ... - Radiation Research; (USA)

An unusually high incidence of kidney disease (tubular degeneration and necrosis with fibrous replacement) was observed among 24 beagles injected at about 5 years of age with 116 or 329 kBq 226Ra kg-1 but not among an additional 10 beagles given about 39 kBq 226Ra kg-1. This 226Ra solution also contained 210Pb, 210Bi, and 210Po. To determine whether the kidney disease was related to the radiation from 226Ra and its short-lived progeny or to the alpha radiation from 210Po, 2 beagles about 7 years of age were injected with 451 kBq 226Ra kg-1 of 210Po citrate. Measurements of polonium retentionmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2307/3577752
α-Imaging Confirmed Efficient Targeting of CD₄₅-Positive Cells After ²¹¹At-Radioimmunotherapy for Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Journal Article Frost, Sophia ; Miller, Brian W. ; Back, Tom ; ... - Journal of Nuclear Medicine

Alpha-radioimmunotherapy (α-RIT) targeting CD45 may substitute for total body irradiation in hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) preparative regimens for lymphoma. Our goal was to optimize the anti-CD45 monoclonal antibody (MAb; CA12.10C12) protein dose for astatine-²¹¹(²¹¹At)-RIT, extending the analysis to include intra-organ ²¹¹At activity distribution and α-imaging-based small-scale dosimetry, along with imunohistochemical staining. Methods: Eight normal dogs were injected with either 0.75 (n=5) or 1.00 mg/kg (n=3) of ²¹¹At-B10-CA12.10C12 (11.5–27.6 MBq/kg). Two were euthanized and necropsied 19–22 hours postinjection (p.i.), and six received autologous HCT three days after ²¹¹At-RIT, following lymph node and bone marrow biopsies at 2–4 and/or 19 hours p.i.more »« less
https://doi.org/10.2967/jnumed.115.162388
The radiation dosimetry of Re-186 HEDP

Journal Article Stabin, M G ; Graham, M C ; Scher, H J - Journal of Nuclear Medicine

Patients suffering from metastatic bone cancer may be offered some relief of bone pain by several palliative agents currently under study. One such agent is Re-186 HEDP (etidronate). We gathered biodistribution data from 27 patients receiving this agent for palliation of bone pain. Skeletal activity was estimated as that portion of administered activity not recovered in urine or measured in kidneys or extracellular fluid (ECF) space. Activity in kidneys was estimated through scintigraphic imaging. Activity in urine and blood were estimated by direct counting of samples; activity in ECF was approximated as blood activity divided by the plasmacrit, multiplied bymore »« less

Similar Records