Umbrella as an Improvised Weapon

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by SRoach

I'm pretty sure it's heavy metal poisoning that kills the victim, rather than the radiation of the polonium pellet.

I'm not an expert to be sure, but my understanding is that polonium is an alpha-emitter. The radiation that it emits is short-ranged in air and will not penetrate the outermost layer of the human epidermis, and so it does not present a radiological hazard while it is outside the body. But when it is introduced into the body (usually by the ingestion of soluble salts, or inhaled with tobacco smoke) things are very different. It is not chemically toxic to a significant degree, but alpha particles from polonium decay inside living cells are devastating.

The LD₅₀ for polonium-210 is estimated as 0.089 micrograms ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin, from radiological effects alone.