Polonium, also called Radium F, was discovered by Pierre and Marie Curie in their

laboratory in France after they 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. At the end of June 1898, they had a substance
that was about 300 times more strongly active than uranium. In the work they published
in July 1898, they write, "We thus believe that the substance that we have extracted
from pitchblende contains a metal never known before, akin to bismuth in its analytic
properties. If the existence of this new metal is confirmed, we suggest that it should be
called polonium after the name of the country of origin of one of us." It was also in this
work that they used the term radioactivity for the first time. Polonium's most stable
isotope, polonium-209, has a half-life of 102 years. It decays into lead-205 through alpha
decay. Marie and Pierre won the Nobel Prize in Physics 1903, sharing with Antoine Henri
Becquerel. In 1911, Marie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911 for her discovery of
Polonium and Radium and extraction and analysis of pure Radium Compounds.
Polonium is an extremely dangerous substance. When it breaks down, it gives off
alpha particles. These particles are tiny, atom-sized particles that can destroy cells.
Polonium is considered to be more than 100 billion times more dangerous than
hydrogen cyanide. Polonium has few commercial applications because of its
radioactive nature. The element has been used in devices to eliminate static charge for
textiles and on brushes to remove dust on photographic film. It is also used as a
lightweight heat source for thermoelectric power in space satellites because a small
amount of the element can release a large amount of energy.
Some say Polonium is the perfect poison why? Because it absolutely kills,
without any hesitation, and if you use it, you should think about not only once or twice
but many times, if possible. Polonium is very lethal and not advised to be used by
people.
Polonium-210 is an alpha emitter. Exposure to polonium increases the risk of
getting various cancers. As such it is very hazardous if swallowed or inhaled. Has it been
used before? Yes, it is. The famous case is the assassination of Aleksandr Litvinenko, a
former Russian security officer who received political asylum in Britain after becoming a
highly vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He died because of Polonium
Poisoning.
The element has been found in the tobacco used in cigarettes and other
products. The amount of polonium taken in by a smoker is approximately equal to that
taken in from all other sources. Polonium must be added, therefore, to the list of harmful
chemicals inhaled during smoking. Polonium is a relatively rare element. Polonium is
produced in nature when other radioactive elements break down. It is so rare,
however, that all the polonium needed is now made in particle accelerators. It is
extremely rare in its natural state. Scientists are able to extract the element by
bombarding natural bismuth with neutrons and obtaining the parent of polonium. By
using high neutron fluxes of nuclear reactors, very small amounts of polonium can be
obtained. Polonium-209 is available from Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the cost of
about $3200 per microcurie, a radioactivity measurement unit.
Going back to the Shakespeare quote, it suits the story of Polonium because the
element is a product of the passion and hardships of Pierre Curie and Marie Curie, it is a
product of their love; this product, however, is said to have been one of the reasons of
the death of Marie Curie in July 4, 1934 because of her exposure to radiation. Like
what the quote tells us, sometimes, the things which inflict bad things to us and
causes pain, are our causes of joy. Similar with love, no matter how much a
person hurts us and breaks our trust multiple times, we endure the pain because,
bottom-line we do it for love. If we do not have trust, trust the love we have for
that special someone or something. And that is what Pierre Curie and Marie
Curie did.