'been passenger on those flights?

[infoseeker]

for PRECAUTION pupose:

One of the three British Airways Boeing 767s removed from service following the discovery of low traces of a radioactive substance has been given the all clear by UK government agencies.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said it does not believe that overall passengers on this aircraft - registration G-BZHA - were at risk over the past month. This aircraft had flown 72 of the 221 flights identified.

Flights operated by this aircraft are listed here.

Monitoring is continuing on a second aircraft - registration G-BNWX. The airline hopes to return both aircraft to service at the weekend.

The HPA went on to say the risk of having been exposed to Polonium-210 remains low.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has given its clearance for the third aircraft - registration G-BNWB - currently at Moscow, to return to Heathrow, where it will undergo testing by the HPA. The aircraft will operate to London Heathrow on Friday, December 1.

Flights operated by these two aircraft are listed here.

Customers on these flights who wish to receive further advice are advised to telephone NHS Direct on 0845 46 47. This includes UK citizens travelling overseas. For all non-UK nationals, please contact your local doctor.

Only customers who have travelled on these specific flights are asked to telephone NHS Direct or seek medical advice locally.

British Airways helpline remains open on 0845 60 40 171 or + 44 (0) 191 211 3690 for international calls.

The airline is in the process of making contact with customers who have travelled on flights operated by these aircraft, which operate within Europe.

The UK government advised British Airways on Tuesday evening that the aircraft were part of the police investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

Further information will be released as it becomes available.

Information is also available on the following websites:

NHS Direct www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

Health Protection Agency Information www.hpa.org.uk

https://lfn.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/lfn.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2432&p_topview=1

Complete details of "Flights Affected"

https://lfn.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/lfn.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2436&p_sid=FHSXi_ni&p_lva=2432#

https://lfn.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/lfn.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2433&p_sid=FHSXi_ni&p_lva=2432#

[mgpower0]

Be a bit scary if you had, but I can't help thinking this is a bit of a media beat up. Alexander Litvinenko was feed a large amount of Polonium-210 in a cup of tea. Its pretty unlikely that too many other people would have been exposed to dangerous levels of the stuff. But then i'm no expert:confused:

[Rikky]

Death by radiiation poisoning just no honor in modern spies,not like the good old days:D

[Sailor]

Heard that polonium can poison someone just by being with the infected guy for a few hours. It is sooo powerful that only 100grams per year are produced.

[BCGray]

84
Po
Polonium
209
Polonium

Atomic Number: 84

Atomic Weight: 209

Melting Point: 527 K (254°C or 489°F)

Boiling Point: 1235 K (962°C or 1764°F)

Density: 9.32 grams per cubic centimeter

Phase at Room Temperature: Solid

Element Classification: Metal

Radioactive

Period Number: 6 Group Number: 16 Group Name: Chalcogen

What's in a name? Named for the country of Poland.

Say what? Polonium is pronounced as peh-LOW-ni-em.

History and Uses:
Polonium was discovered by Marie Sklodowska Curie, a Polish chemist, in 1898. She obtained polonium from pitchblende, a material that contains uranium, after noticing that unrefined pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium that was separated from it. She reasoned that pitchblende must contain at least one other radioactive element. Curie needed to refine several tons of pitchblende in order to obtain tiny amounts of polonium and radium, another radioactive element discovered by Curie. One ton of uranium ore contains only about 100 micrograms (0.0001 grams) of polonium.

Due to its scarcity, polonium is usually produced by bombarding bismuth-209 with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. This forms bismuth-210, which has a half-life of 5 days. Bismuth-210 decays into polonium-210 through beta decay. Milligram amounts of polonium-210 have been produced by this method.

Polonium-210 is a very strong emitter of alpha particles. A single gram of polonium-210 creates 140 Watts of heat energy and is being considered as a lightweight heat source for thermoelectric power for spacecraft. Polonium-210 has a half-life of 138.39 days.

Polonium's most stable isotope, polonium-209, has a half-life of 102 years. It decays into lead-205 through alpha decay. Polonium-209 is available from Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the cost of about $3200 per microcurie.

Polonium can be used to eliminate static electricity in machinery that is caused by processes such as the rolling of paper, wire or sheet metal, although other materials which emit beta particles are more commonly used for this purpose. Polonium is also used in brushes for removing dust from photographic films, although the polonium must be carefully sealed to protect the user from contamination. Polonium is also combined with beryllium to form neutron sources.

[Rikky]

Heard that polonium can poison someone just by being with the infected guy for a few hours. It is sooo powerful that only 100grams per year are produced.

It depends how your poisoned,externally hopefully it can be cleaned off,internally as wih even small doses of radiation it will get you sooner or later as it will probably be trapped in your body for life constantly bombarding your cells causing all sorts of health problems,if the guy/gal has become even the smallest bit sick from internal poising my guess is he\she hasnt got long:confused: