Radioactive Smoke
A: List the major ideas, concepts or key points- point by point
B: Summarize the AUTHOR’s main point or idea- at LEAST 1-2 paragraphs
In this article, Legislation brings tobacco under jurisdiction of the FDA, allowing the agency to regulate components of cigarettes. Forcing industries to get rid of polonium could be one way to make cigarettes less deadly. Polonium 210 alone causes thousands of deaths in the United States. Smoking was also found to give a person a small dose of Polonium into the lungs. Polonium 210 is a rare radioactive isotope often found in cigarettes. Radon would decay into lead 210, which would deposit on growing plants, sticking to thousands of little hairs called trichomes that cover tobacco leaves. After the passing of The Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act, the American Cancer Society lauded it for requiring the tobacco industry to disclose the poison in its products.
C: Write a reaction paragraph to the article stating your own thoughts on the topic, using specific citations from the article to support your views
After reading this article, I think the best thing to do is try to reduce our use of polonium in cigarettes. Smoking cigarrettes is bad enough, and the find out that there is polonium in it should encourage smokers to quit. I think this type of information should be treated as something big, and talked about more. We should stop using polonium in cigarettes period. If people ignore this and continue on smoking, we should try to reduce the amount we use in cigarettes to reduce the risk of lung issues.
So What?:
Says Who?:
What if?... We didn't do anything:
What does this remind me of?:
Drugs, people know that doing drugs is bad and what's in it is bad also, but because they're so addicted they can't stop and probably won't stop.
- Legislation brings tobacco under jurisdiction of the FDA, allowing the agency to regulate components of cigarettes.
- Forcing industries to get rid of polonium could be one way to make cigarettes less deadly
- First time that polonium 210 was making its way into lungs of smokers was by chance.
- In the first half of the 1960s, the health effects of radiation and radioactive fallout were in the minds of the scientists and other people.
- Edward Martell revisited the issue in 1974. Martell suggested that soils containing uranium-rich phosphate fertilizer would release radon 222 into the atmosphere, raising concentration above normal levels.
- Radon would decay into lead 210, which would deposit on growing plants, sticking to thousands of little hairs called trichomes that cover tobacco leaves.
- Martell was concerned with the buildup of polonium 210 in particular areas of the lung. He said that because of smokers' chronic exposure to low, concentrated doses, polonium 210 was the primary cause of their lung cancer and other types of cancer.
- Tobacco industry continued to monitor external research on the subject and to explore solutions of the polonium problem.
- Industry debated the drawbacks and benefits
- Another option was to wash tobacco leaves with dilute solution of hydrogen peroxide.
- Other ideas like using fertilizers with limited uranium from the cured tobacco leaf.
- Industry refusal to face a problem has only delayed it.
- After the passing of The Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act, the American Cancer Society lauded it for requiring the tobacco industry to disclose the poison in its products.
- The World Health organization has made it clear that smoking is the most avoidable C.O.D
- Polonium is very easy to keep out of smoke
- Polonium 210 is a rare radioactive isotope often found in cigarettes
- Cigarettes contain as much Polonium in the smoke as they did 50 years ago
B: Summarize the AUTHOR’s main point or idea- at LEAST 1-2 paragraphs
In this article, Legislation brings tobacco under jurisdiction of the FDA, allowing the agency to regulate components of cigarettes. Forcing industries to get rid of polonium could be one way to make cigarettes less deadly. Polonium 210 alone causes thousands of deaths in the United States. Smoking was also found to give a person a small dose of Polonium into the lungs. Polonium 210 is a rare radioactive isotope often found in cigarettes. Radon would decay into lead 210, which would deposit on growing plants, sticking to thousands of little hairs called trichomes that cover tobacco leaves. After the passing of The Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act, the American Cancer Society lauded it for requiring the tobacco industry to disclose the poison in its products.
C: Write a reaction paragraph to the article stating your own thoughts on the topic, using specific citations from the article to support your views
After reading this article, I think the best thing to do is try to reduce our use of polonium in cigarettes. Smoking cigarrettes is bad enough, and the find out that there is polonium in it should encourage smokers to quit. I think this type of information should be treated as something big, and talked about more. We should stop using polonium in cigarettes period. If people ignore this and continue on smoking, we should try to reduce the amount we use in cigarettes to reduce the risk of lung issues.
So What?:
- Polonium is in cigarettes
- It causes lung cancer and other issues
Says Who?:
- Author: Briana Rego
What if?... We didn't do anything:
- There will be more deaths
- More people would have lung cancer
What does this remind me of?:
Drugs, people know that doing drugs is bad and what's in it is bad also, but because they're so addicted they can't stop and probably won't stop.