MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian radiation and chemical security experts ruled out the possibility that people poisoned by polonium-210 can leave traces of the substance at places they visited.
"This is impossible. It is true that, staying within a person's body, polonium-210 remains a source of alpha emission. But it is significantly reduced by tissues and is unlikely to become a source of induced radiation that can be detected with instruments within a certain time," Lev Fyodorov, president of the Chemical Security Union, told Interfax Wednesday in comments on reports that London police have detected polonium-210 radiation traces at several locations in the city that ex-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko visited before his death.
Traces of polonium can be detected only within the body or in organic excretions of an irradiated person, Fyodorov said. "It is quite logical that no clear reasons for Litvinenko's death were found in London. Everyone is waiting for an autopsy," he said.
Deputy General Director of the Russian Institute of Atomic Engineering Igor Ostretsov told Interfax, "In order for traces of polonium-210 to be left somewhere, it has to be either scattered or spilt, if it is a solution. However, this all is quite dangerous."
Polonium-210 is highly radioactive and cannot be safely manipulated, as this could result in irradiation of skin or possibly the entire body, Ostretsov said. Moreover, polonium-210 can be easily aerosolized and contaminate air in this state, he said.