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A comment on Big Tobacco knew radioactive Po210 in cigarettes posed cancer risk, kept quiet. Parent comment

Re:Big Tobacco knew radioactive Po210 in cigarettes posed ca... by hammock on Saturday July 29, 2023 @06:30PM (#36925422)
>If you were in charge of public health, would you focus on making cigarettes “safer” or on smoking cessation?

That question was answered years ago when smoke was banned in pretty much every indoor and outdoor space across America.

Would take a pretty big effort to reverse that now. Not saying it couldn’t be done, though

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Big Tobacco knew radioactive Po210 in cigarettes posed ca... by consumer451 on Saturday July 29, 2023 @06:35PM (#36925471)
We humans are such binary thinkers, myself included.

If we could somehow silently reduce Polonium-210 in tobacco while also lowering smoking in general, that would be ideal.

Japan did it. [0] Why can’t the rest of the world?

Smoking is huge in Central and Eastern Europe still. Sadly, I smoke sometimes out here. Wish I could find a brand with lower radioactivity for those times.

People have the gear to test for this. A brand comparison would make for a great citizen science Patreon funded video.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36905717

[ Parent | on HN ]