Tobacco companies knew for over 40 years that cigarettes contained a radioactive substance, Polonium-210, a new study of historical documents revealed.

Scientists from the University of California in Los Angeles reviewed 27 documents released by tobacco companies that were not previously analyzed. The findings are shocking.

The study's lead author, Hrayr Karagueuzian said the companies' level of deception surprised him.

Tobacco companies knew of radioactive properties found in cigarettes as early as 1959. Not only were they aware of the dangers, they tested and found that snakes developed lung cancer as a result of exposure to Polonium-210. Tobacco companies extended their research beyond snakes and calculated the amount of radiation a regular smoker would ingest over the course of twenty years. Then, they buried the findings, keeping it private until the FDA began requiring those companies to release information about new products and changes to existing ones.

The scientists reviewing the documents followed the calculations by tobacco company researchers to determine that Polonium-210 radiation exposure accounts for 138 deaths out of every 1,000 smokers over a twenty-five year span.

Polonium-210 is a radioactive material that emits hazardous particles called alpha particles. There are low levels in the soil and atmosphere, but the fertilizer used to grow tobacco plants contributes to the levels of polonium-210 found in cigarettes.

A professor of family medicine at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, Dr. John Spangler addressed the process. He stated that when smokers inhale, the radiation in the smoke damages the surface of the lungs, creating "hot spots." When combined with the carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) in tobacco smoke, the damage from the radiation is potent.

Spangler said, "The two together greatly increases your risk of lung cancer, so tobacco smoke is even more dangerous than you thought before."

All tobacco products on the market today still contain polonium-210. In the 1980's scientists discovered a means to remove 99% of the radioactive element from tobacco products, but tobacco companies refused to use the process.

Why did tobacco companies decline to remove Polonium-210?

Companies' claimed that the process would cost too much and might have a negative impact on tobacco farmers and the environment. Karagueuzian's team discovered something else hidden in the documents studied:

The process would alter the nicotine in the plants and make it less able to deliver the "instant nicotine rush" smokers craved.

Are you ready to find an alternative to cigarettes yet?