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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?
Tobacco is radioactive because the radioactive particles stick to the trichromes. Tomatoes don’t have trichromes, so no, unless you’re eating the leaves.
"Toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke are the main reason cigarettes cause cancer, but radiation also may play a part." That's the best that EPA can do here? Is there really no data?
When you have detectors capable of seeing a single atom decaying, quantitative dose rates are always required to have a meaningful and useful conversation.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tobacco is radioactive because the radioactive particles stick to the trichromes. Tomatoes don’t have trichromes, so no, unless you’re eating the leaves.
Would cannabis treated with fertilizer have the same effects then?
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?
This is very nearly useless because it doesn't give the range of dose rates they see in tobacco (am I missing them!?). Low radiation doses are normal and natural and have been part of life forever. High doses from concentrated stuff can cause trouble. So what range are we dealing with here!? When you have detectors capable of seeing a single atom decaying, quantitative dose rates are always required to have a meaning…
It decays into radioactive lead, and once we breath it in, it's hard to get rid of, and stays in our bodies.
This is very nearly useless because it doesn't give the range of dose rates they see in tobacco (am I missing them!?). Low radiation doses are normal and natural and have been part of life forever. High doses from concentrated stuff can cause trouble. So what range are we dealing with here!? When you have detectors capable of seeing a single atom decaying, quantitative dose rates are always required to have a meaning…
If you want more data a Google search brings more detail:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24425555_Radioactiv...
Bananas are radioactive too, due to their potassium content. Nobody worries much about those.
There is a very nice episode of Veritasium (science divulgation YouTube channel) which shows exactly this together with other "well known" radioactive sources (e.g. Chernobyl, Fukushima, Marie Curie's office etc)