What Killed Arafat?

[Magda Hassan]

I'm sure the entirely noble and neutral ICC will now issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders during the time of Arafat.

:hitball: I hope you wont be holding your breath for that Danny.....You may be disappointed.

[Magda Hassan]

[Peter Lemkin]

I'm sure the entirely noble and neutral ICC will now issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders during the time of Arafat.

:hitball: I hope you wont be holding your breath for that Danny.....You may be disappointed.

Now if Judge Garcon was still on the bench.......things might well be different...but then, that's why they 'got him', didn't they!

[Peter Lemkin]

Toxicity
Overview

Polonium is highly dangerous and has no biological role.[14] By mass, polonium-210 is around 250,000 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide (the actual LD50 for 210Po is less than 1 microgram for an average adult (see below) compared with about 250 milligrams for hydrogen cyanide[53]). The main hazard is its intense radioactivity (as an alpha emitter), which makes it very difficult to handle safely. Even in microgram amounts, handling 210Po is extremely dangerous, requiring specialized equipment (a negative pressure alpha glove box equipped with high performance filters), adequate monitoring, and strict handling procedures to avoid any contamination. Alpha particles emitted by polonium will damage organic tissue easily if polonium is ingested, inhaled, or absorbed, although they do not penetrate the epidermis and hence are not hazardous as long as the alpha particles remain outside of the body. Meanwhile, wearing chemically resistant and "intact" gloves is a mandatory precaution to avoid transcutaneous diffusion of polonium directly through the skin. Polonium delivered in concentrated nitric acid can easily diffuse through inadequate gloves (e.g., latex gloves) or the acid may damage the gloves.
Acute effects

The median lethal dose (LD50) for acute radiation exposure is generally about 4.5 Sv.[54] The committed effective dose equivalent 210Po is 0.51 µSv/Bq if ingested, and 2.5 µSv/Bq if inhaled.[55] Since 210Po has an activity of 166 TBq per gram (4,500 Ci/g)[55] (1 gram produces 166×1012 decays per second), a fatal 4.5 Sv (J/kg) dose can be caused by ingesting 8.8 MBq (238 microcuries, µCi), about 50 nanograms (ng), or inhaling 1.8 MBq (48 µCi), about 10 ng. One gram of 210Po could thus in theory poison 20 million people of whom 10 million would die. The actual toxicity of 210Po is lower than these estimates, because radiation exposure that is spread out over several weeks (the biological half-life of polonium in humans is 30 to 50 days[56]) is somewhat less damaging than an instantaneous dose. It has been estimated that a median lethal dose of 210Po is 0.015 GBq (0.4 mCi), or 0.089 micrograms, still an extremely small amount.[57][58]
Long term (chronic) effects

In addition to the acute effects, radiation exposure (both internal and external) carries a long-term risk of death from cancer of 510% per Sv.[54] The general population is exposed to small amounts of polonium as a radon daughter in indoor air; the isotopes 214Po and 218Po are thought to cause the majority[59] of the estimated 15,00022,000 lung cancer deaths in the US every year that have been attributed to indoor radon.[60] Tobacco smoking causes additional exposure to polonium.[61]

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While a bit technical, the take home from this [wikipedia] piece is that Polonium-210 is very deadly in very small amounts. A person given a very small amount is almost sure to die in a few weeks....and very likely without doctors even being able to figure out why.

[Magda Hassan]

The other people who were in the compound with him should also be tested for traces or exposure. I wonder who else of them have died in the mean time?

[Peter Lemkin]

The other people who were in the compound with him should also be tested for traces or exposure. I wonder who else of them have died in the mean time?

The usual means of 'administration' of Polonium is in food - so it can be targeted to one person. However, there are other means that could effect a larger group...but that would cast greater suspicion and I think unlikely to be used.

[Magda Hassan]

It kind of narrows things down to. Who handled the food? How was it distributed? Where did the produce come from? Who was around at the different stages of production?

[Albert Doyle]

Good point Magda. The stuff is so toxic that even those who introduced it into the food were probably exposed and suffered effects.

[Peter Lemkin]

Good point Magda. The stuff is so toxic that even those who introduced it into the food were probably exposed and suffered effects.

That would happen only if the 'introducer' was not informed [unlikely]. One could take the Polonium powder either 'straight' or already mixed with something from a lined safety container [small - as only a small amount is needed and it is primarily alpha radiation] and right into the food item[s], without any danger to the person doing that - or others who might come near it. it would be the person ingesting it who would be poisoned, alone. If it was a 'regular' attendant who went rogue for money or change of allegiance it will be hard to locate them. If someone unusual came once or just a few times in the final days or weeks...they should be looked at carefully...and who they met and where they met them all traced out. It could be very complex, however, as it might have been placed in something far outside of the compound he was staying in, with the knowledge that it would be delivered and was an item that Arafat himself would eat. [a favorite food or some medicine he took - even his brand of toothpaste would work - or a gift of chocolate/cake/other food etc.]

[Peter Lemkin]

JPost.com

'Polonium found on Arafat's clothing was planted'
By YAAKOV LAPPIN
07/05/2012 22:03
Analyst tells 'Post' high levels of radioactive poison reportedly found on Arafat's belongings likely placed there much later.

The high levels of the radioactive poison polonium reportedly found on the belongings of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat indicate that the toxin was planted on them long after his death, a senior counterterrorism analyst told The Jerusalem Post Thursday.

Dr. Ely Karmon, of the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya's Institute for Counterterrorism, is a specialist in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism.
Related:

PA: Arafat's body can be exhumed over poison claim

Palestinians divided over exhuming Arafat

Responding to an Al Jazeera report published Wednesday which said that researchers at the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland, discovered abnormally high levels of polonium on Arafat's belongings Karmon said that the half-life of the substance would make it impossible for polonium to have been discovered at such high levels if it had been used to kill Arafat eight years ago.

According to the Al Jazeera report, polonium has a half-life of 138 days, "meaning that half of the substance decays roughly every four-and-a-half months."

And yet, eight years after Arafat's death, the Swiss scientists reported finding polonium levels of 54 millibecquerels (mBq) and 180 millibecquerels on his belonging, considered to be high levels.

"If it had been used for poisoning, minimal levels should be seen now. Yet much higher levels were found. Someone planted the polonium much later," Karmon said.

"Because of the half-life of the substance, the conclusion is that the polonium is much more fresh," he added.

Karmon added that the Al Jazeera report raised additional unanswered questions. Referring to the fact that Arafat's widow, Suha, provided the researchers with Arafat's belongings, Karmon asked: "If Suha Arafat safeguarded these contaminated materials, why, after seven years, was she not poisoned too? She touched these things and Arafat in hospital."

In 2006, ex-Russian spy turned dissident Alexander Litvinenko died after being poisoned with polonium, according to a British investigation. British authorities analyzed a restaurant, a cab and a hotel used by Litvinenko to trace the poison.

"Did Al Jazeera check the home of Suha Arafat in Paris and Malta where she kept the items for traces of polonium, as the British did in their investigation?" Karmon asked.

Karmon also cited an article published Wednesday by the French daily Le Figaro which, he said, reported that the symptoms found in Arafat's French medical file do not fit a polonium poisoning.

After Arafat's death, "why did neither Suha nor the PA agree to release the French hospital's medical file?" he asked.

NB - his argument about the amount/level of radiation now is a specious one - and he knows it - it would all depend on the amounts originally present and the time from then to now. Any amount/level could be present at this time. The only valid question he raises is in the last sentence. To me, it hints that some few in the PA might have been in the 'know' on the poisoning - also the reason a controversy has now arisen on the autopsy. I wonder who they were working with and who supplied the Polononium . Clear to me is that there are now certain players in France, Israel, US and even PA who do NOT want this investigated further and are doing all they can to thwart it.