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> Tobacco farmers use fertilizer to help their crops grow. These fertilizers contain a naturally-occurring radionuclide, radium. Radium radioactively decays to

> Tobacco farmers use fertilizer to help their crops grow. These fertilizers contain a naturally-occurring radionuclide, radium. Radium radioactively decays to release radon gas, which then rises from the soil around the plants. As the plant grows, the radon from fertilizer, along with naturally-occurring radon in surrounding soil and rocks, cling to the sticky hairs on the bottom of tobacco leaves, called trichomes. Radon later decays into the radioactive elements lead-210 and polonium-210. Rain does not wash them away. Polonium-210 is an alpha emitter and carries the most risk. Isn't this true of every plant we cultivate and put into our bodies? Or is there something particular about tobacco trichromes and Radon? Or tobacco-specific fertilizers? Inhalation vs. ingestion? This is all coming on the heels of learning yesterday that everyone has like 20-60 lbs of lead in their back yard: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23039020 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23039020

BlueYoshi 6y ago
Tobacco leaves have sticky hairs on their underside, which is what makes them different from other crops: it’s these hairs that absorb the radon and prevent it from being washed away with water. Also, the type of fertilizer used for Tobacco might be different than fertilizers used for other crops.
- Gibbon1 6y ago
  > sticky hairs Reminds me. My ex-wifes grandmother said when she was a little girl her family packed up from tobacco country to California. And her utter joy when her mother told her that no they don't grow tobacco in California. Because picking tobacco is gross and nasty work.
  - DanBC 6y ago
    It is, and the US still allows child labour in tobacco farming. https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/video/2014/05/13/made-usa-child-labor-tobacco https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/video/2014/05/13/made-usa-c... https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/09/teens-tobacco-fields/child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/09/teens-tobacco-fields/c... https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-children/hazardous-child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-childr... https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/10/dispatches-obama-bans-e-cigarettes-kids-not-child-labor-tobacco-fields https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/10/dispatches-obama-bans-e-...
    - GordonS 6y ago
      As a kid growing up in Scotland I worked picking daffodils in spring and berries in the summer - absolutely back-breaking work, but at least you got to eat your body weight in berries for free! We were paid a pittance based on how much we picked. It wasn't only kids, and was never thought of as "child labour" at the time - I wonder if this is still a thing in the UK?
      - DanBC 6y ago
        It probably isn't still a thing in the UK, because we now have things like national minimum wage and stronger protections against child labour.
- throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
  No, many plants have these AFAIK. Tomato leaves are pretty sticky. Potatoes too IIRC. Happens that both of these are in the same family as tobacco though. I just realised your point that tobacco is a leaf crop unlike spuds and toms, so ok, point taken.
  - seszett 6y ago
    Tobacco is a lot more sticky than most other crops, to the point that it has been hypothesised to be a semi-carnivorous plant. Insects actually get caught in them, it's just unknown of the plant actually actively digests them. That's also why harvesting tobacco is not very pleasant, with all the stuff stuck on their leaves.
    - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
      Actually I've heard exactly the same - including the conclusion of vegetal carnivory - for tomatoes too. Surprising number of links here: https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=tomatoes%20carnivorous%20sticky https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=tomatoes%20carnivorous%20stick... If you pick on, this https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/attack-of-the-killer-tomatoes-1834638.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/attack-of-the-kil...
      - pfdietz 6y ago
        Bean leaves also have sharp protrusions, I understand. Probably for defense against insects more than carnivory. Freshly picked bean leaves placed on the floor are supposed to be a defense against bedbugs.
pvaldes 6y ago
> is there something particular about tobacco trichomes? Absolutely nothing Well... Either this people are genius that discovered a way to suck and harvest expensive argon and helium from the air, with the help of super-sticking tomato that traps them magically in a everest size (from the point of view of a radon atom) trichome. ... or maybe the history is false and noble gases still keep their reputation of not interacting with anything and being difficult to trap. I would put my money in the second possibility. It looks exactly like the kind of convoluted history that tobacco makers would create to avoid paying compensations to the families of people affected by cancer ("Tobacco is safe, healthy for children and medicinal, manure makers dose our nice flowers with radiation and are the real responsible, so should share the bills"). I wouldn't rush to seed Tobacco in Fukushima.

BlueYoshi 6y ago

Tobacco leaves have sticky hairs on their underside, which is what makes them different from other crops: it’s these hairs that absorb the radon and prevent it from being washed away with water. Also, the type of fertilizer used for Tobacco might be different than fertilizers used for other crops.

Gibbon1 6y ago
> sticky hairs Reminds me. My ex-wifes grandmother said when she was a little girl her family packed up from tobacco country to California. And her utter joy when her mother told her that no they don't grow tobacco in California. Because picking tobacco is gross and nasty work.
- DanBC 6y ago
  It is, and the US still allows child labour in tobacco farming. https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/video/2014/05/13/made-usa-child-labor-tobacco https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/video/2014/05/13/made-usa-c... https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/09/teens-tobacco-fields/child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/09/teens-tobacco-fields/c... https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-children/hazardous-child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-childr... https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/10/dispatches-obama-bans-e-cigarettes-kids-not-child-labor-tobacco-fields https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/10/dispatches-obama-bans-e-...
  - GordonS 6y ago
    As a kid growing up in Scotland I worked picking daffodils in spring and berries in the summer - absolutely back-breaking work, but at least you got to eat your body weight in berries for free! We were paid a pittance based on how much we picked. It wasn't only kids, and was never thought of as "child labour" at the time - I wonder if this is still a thing in the UK?
    - DanBC 6y ago
      It probably isn't still a thing in the UK, because we now have things like national minimum wage and stronger protections against child labour.
throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
No, many plants have these AFAIK. Tomato leaves are pretty sticky. Potatoes too IIRC. Happens that both of these are in the same family as tobacco though. I just realised your point that tobacco is a leaf crop unlike spuds and toms, so ok, point taken.
- seszett 6y ago
  Tobacco is a lot more sticky than most other crops, to the point that it has been hypothesised to be a semi-carnivorous plant. Insects actually get caught in them, it's just unknown of the plant actually actively digests them. That's also why harvesting tobacco is not very pleasant, with all the stuff stuck on their leaves.
  - throwaway_pdp09 6y ago
    Actually I've heard exactly the same - including the conclusion of vegetal carnivory - for tomatoes too. Surprising number of links here: https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=tomatoes%20carnivorous%20sticky https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=tomatoes%20carnivorous%20stick... If you pick on, this https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/attack-of-the-killer-tomatoes-1834638.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/attack-of-the-kil...
    - pfdietz 6y ago
      Bean leaves also have sharp protrusions, I understand. Probably for defense against insects more than carnivory. Freshly picked bean leaves placed on the floor are supposed to be a defense against bedbugs.

pvaldes 6y ago

> is there something particular about tobacco trichomes? Absolutely nothing Well... Either this people are genius that discovered a way to suck and harvest expensive argon and helium from the air, with the help of super-sticking tomato that traps them magically in a everest size (from the point of view of a radon atom) trichome. ... or maybe the history is false and noble gases still keep their reputation of not interacting with anything and being difficult to trap. I would put my money in the second possibility. It looks exactly like the kind of convoluted history that tobacco makers would create to avoid paying compensations to the families of people affected by cancer ("Tobacco is safe, healthy for children and medicinal, manure makers dose our nice flowers with radiation and are the real responsible, so should share the bills"). I wouldn't rush to seed Tobacco in Fukushima.