Should Warning Labels Be Added to Strawberries?
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Ever heard of “Polonium 210”? Think Alexander Litvinenko; the Russian dissident we all watched slowly die in 2006 after he was exposed to a toxic substance. The toxic substance to which he was exposed was Polonium 210. Polonium 210 is reportedly 250,000 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide.
Guess who knows a lot about Polonium 210? Those Big Tobacco guys, that’s who and they have known since the early sixties. Apparently, Big Tobacco studied the effects of Polonium 210 for over 40 years. Why? Well, because Polonium 210 is found in a cigarette, that’s why. One of the researchers who discovered some of Big Tobacco’s research, Monique Muggli, from the Mayo clinic says: “Philip Morris documents show the majority of the company’s internal reports regarding PO-210 were not published.”
Tragically, Polonium 210 is known to cause lung cancer and has resulted in the deaths of approximately 11,700 people each year in the US. So, I suppose it is not surprising that Big Tobacco buried this research as unimportant to the American public. How could they or why would they pay for over 40 years of research into a dangerous cancer causing ingredient in their product? Well, it is not really that important; at least according to Big Tobacco. The mystery was cleared up by a spokesperson for one of the biggies in Big Tobacco. Polonium 210 is also found in food! That’s right; Big Tobacco says they did not need to tell the public about Polonium 210 because, “it’s present in all such plant types, including strawberries.”
Since I really like strawberries, I am pretty disappointed. I wonder if I stop lighting them if they will be as bad for me?