"Polonium-210 or lead-210 present in cigarette smoke may be a significant causative factor in human lung cancer." - GreenMedInfo Summary
Lung cancer induced in hamsters by low doses of alpha radiation from polonium-210.
Science. 1975 May 16 ;188(4189):737-8. PMID: 1124396
Lung cancers have been induced in 9 to 53 percent of hamsters given multiple intratracheal instillations of polonium-210 in amounts yielding lifetime exposures of 15 to 300 rads to the lungs. Cigarette smokers have previously been estimated to receive 20 rads to areas of the bronchial epithelium from deposited polonium-210. This finding thus supports the hypothesis that alpha radiation resulting from the polonium-210 or lead-210 present in cigarette smoke may be a significant causative factor in human lung cancer.