The paper is of a review character and in historical terms, it contains an overview of research on polonium from the time of its discovery in 1898 (125 years ago) to the present time. The article contains a description of the state of knowledge about the chemistry of polonium, taking into account its physicochemical properties, as well as methods of its production and the radioactivity of its isotopes, as well as its current scientific and industrial applications. The issue of strong radiotoxicity of polonium and the dangers associated with research on it, as well as numerous example of diseases and death from its absorption into the human body, are described in detail. Despite the passage of 125 years since the discovery of polonium, it still fascinates researchers with its mysteries that have not been fully understood, revealed and explained. The sources of this peculiarity should be sought in the fact that although it is classified as a metal, it also has non-metallic properties and can form a number of different chemical compounds. Several chemical compounds of polonium have been tested, which are very easy to get into the human body, where it causes terrible havoc. Alpha particles emitted from decay of 210Po can cause damage to proteins and DNA that load to cell death or such changes in the body that consequently initiate the development of cancer. So you could say that polonium not only has a rich past, but also has an undeniably interesting future.
Polon ma bogatą przeszłość, ale niezaprzeczalnie ma przed sobą interesującą przyszłość, w dalszym ciągu bowiem nie wszystkie jego tajemnice zostały ujawnione. Z punktu widzenia chemii i biologii nadaje się on na „doskonałą radioaktywną truciznę”.
W artykule przedstawiono historię oraz stan obecny rozwoju radiochemii, radioekologii oraz analizy radiochemicznej na Pomorzu Gdańskim. Szczególną uwagę poświecono badaniom naukowym realizowanym na Wydziale Chemii Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego.
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