210Po as a source of natural radioactivity in cigarettes distributed in the Philippines

The natural radioactive nuclides especially ²¹⁰Po, are volatilized at the temperature (600–800 °C) of a burning cigarette and are taken into the human body. Therefore, analysis of natural radioactivity of ²¹⁰Po in cigarettes and the effective dose to smokers should be evaluated. The activity concentration of ²¹⁰Po in sixteen brands of Philippine cigarettes was measured by alpha spectrometry, and estimation of effective dose of ²¹⁰Po to smokers was performed. The activity concentration of ²¹⁰Po in cigarettes distributed in the Philippines ranged from 5.5 to 17.8 mBq/cigarette and the mean value of their activity concentrations was 12.0 mBq/cigarette. The mean value of annual effective doses of ²¹⁰Po to smokers obtained from these activity concentrations was 0.021 mSv/y, which was lower than the reference level (1–20 mSv/y) for existing situation in ICRP Publication 103.