Lead-210 and polonium-210 in tissues of cigarette smokers.

Concentrations of lead-210 and polonium-210 in rib bones taken from 13 cigarette smokers were about twice those in six nonsmokers, the polonium-210 being close to radioactive equilibrium with the lead-210. In alveolar lung tissue the concentration of lead-210 in smokers was about twice that in nonsmokers. These differences are attributed to additional intake by inhalation of lead-210.