Sheila MacIntyre University of Pennsylvania Department of Chemistry Chemistry 505

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The Murder of Alexander Litvinenko by 210 Po Poisoning.

It has been called “The First Assassination of the 21 st Century” by Geary and Akunov ( 1), authors and movie makers are on the move for the rights to the murder mystery of the 21 st century. On November 1, 2006, Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent, was given a dose of 210 Po that resulted in his death 23 days later. Although British authorities do not yet know how or why the ex-spy was killed, they do assume it was murder.

Alexander Litvinenko, a vocal opponent of Russian president Vladimir Putin and an ex-officer in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB, arrived at the critical care unit at University College Hospital (UCH) in central London on November 17 weak and alert. He complained of nausea, vomiting, and severe dehydration that has been occurring for over two weeks. ( 1) He was certain that he had been poisoned. Physicians methodically disqualified food poisoning and a gastrointestinal infection. He began to show signs of acute radiation poisoning, pain, hair loss and a white blood cell count close to zero. However, the instrument used for radiation detection, the Geiger-counter, had negative readings.

This story has a long list of suspects that involve business men, journalists, and political officials in many countries. Litvinenko was assigned to the FSB’s organized-crime unit. His primary role was to combat corruption in the aftermath of the country’s chaotic transition to a free-market economy ( 1) through surveillance and penetration of Russian organized crime ( 2). In 1998, he was put in charge of protecting Boris Berezovsky, a financier and revolutionary-in-exile. Litvinenko held a press conference where he and his colleagues were all disgruntled with the security agency, accused their bosses of seeking to line their pockets and “to settle accounts with undesirable persons”. (1) He also charged that the FSB planned to assassinate Berezovsky, he was fired and accused of stealing munitions and was imprisoned. In 2000, he was released on the condition that he hands over his passport and remains in Russia. The fled to Turkey, then to Chechnya and landed in London where he received political asylum. In London he rejoined his friend Berezovsky and worked together to discredit Putin. ( 2) Litvinenko had written two books, in Blowing up Russia he claimed that the FSB was responsible for a series of apartment bombings in Russia that killed 300 civilians, and tried to frame the Chechen separationists. (1) In Gang from Lubyanka he alleged that Putin was deeply involved in Russian organized crime, the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and that Putin’s FSB trained Ayman al-Zawahiri, Bin Laden’s partner in 9-11. Litvinenko was also recruited by MI-6 to act as a spy. ( 2) Litvinenko openly worried that his life was in danger and rightfully so with his past affiliations.

His death began on November 1, 2006, when he met FSB agents-turned-businessmen Dmitry Kovtun, Andrei Lugovoi and Vyacheslab Sokolenko for tea at London’s Millennium Hotel. The tea pot and area around the table tested positive for polonium210. A waiter at the bar recalls

1 being distracted at Litvinenko’s table and this might have been the opportunity to poison the tea. Litvinenko had also met Mario Scaramello for sushi at the Itsu Sushi restaurant on November 1, before he had tea, Scaramello was also hospitalized later. The official coroner’s report has not been released due to the investigation. There are many theories on the motive and how Litvinenko made initial contact with the polonium. Table 1 ( 2) gives a list of all people that was later found to be in contact with the polonium. ( 2)

Table 1: Polonium Trail Person of Interest Connection Po found Boris Berezovsky employer office furniture and fax machine Andrei Lugovoi security expert Possessions, him, wife Berezovsky protector in Moscow children Dmitry Kovtun Berezovsky business prospect his body Hotel room Hamburg residence Akhmed Zakayev Chechen leader Front seat of car

Mario Scaramella Security consultant hospitalized

Meanwhile, the critical care unit doctors at UCH were perplexed with Litvinenko’s deteriorating condition; on November 22 he was incubated and placed on mechanical ventilation. His vital organs were failing one by one, first the liver, then the kidneys and spleen. Doctors tried to examine his bone marrow, but it was so flat that they could not get a sample. ( 1) The list of possible agents that were poisoning his dividing cells was long. At first the doctors thought it might be thallium poisoning, his symptoms were similar, but radiation was not detected. A urine sample was sent to the Britain’s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and the researcher detected signs of alpha radiation. Before the news reached the hospital, Litvinenko’s heart gave out and he died never knowing what killed him. ( 1)

Nuclear physicists call polonium “the Terminator” because it is the final element created in the process known as slow neutron capture. ( 1) Polonium 210 is one of the strongest emitters of alpha radiation and it occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust as a by product of the decay of uranium-238 ( 3) with a half life of 138 days. (4) It is soluble in aqueous solutions and forms simple salts in dilute acids. ( 5) Polonium is responsible for about one percent of the annual dosage of background radiation humans receive. Polonium is created artificially by bombarding bismuth-209 with neutrons inside a nuclear reactor. You will not find Polonium in large concentrations and it is very expensive. (3) Approximately 100 grams are produced a year and it is manufactured to use in industry for anti-static devices. Most of the Polonium is produced in Russia. ( 3)

The amount of polonium Litvinenko received was a lethal does, even if he received the anti- serum, there was no hope for survival. The polonium was presumed to be ingested and once it enters the gastrointestinal tract the radiation damages the villi’s ability to regenerate. Villi

2 absorb nutrients and are covered with mucus as a protective lining. However, once villa production stops, the walls of the intestines begin to wear away. ( 4) Readily the polonium radiation enters the blood stream and deposited into soft tissue, with the greatest concentrations in the reticuloendothelial system. ( 5) It affects rapidly dividing cells by bombarding them with alpha particles. Hair to falls out in clumps, skin begins to itch and the epidermis ultimately begins to break down. The irradiated liver and kidneys distribute the radiation before failing. (4)

Fig 1. Retention of polonium-210 in organs tissues after a single intake by ingestion, assuming 10% of the ingest amount is absorbed to blood; allowing for radioactive decay. ( 5)

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Radiation at sufficiently high doses is lethal within days or weeks, due to the exponential cell death in the organs and tissues of the body. Fig 1. (5) The most contributing factor in a radiation victim’s death is the mechanism that happens in the bone marrow. Damaged stem cells die off, driving down blood-cell counts and leading to infection and hemorrhaging. Ultimately, organ failure begins to occur all over the body due to the inability of the red blood cells to distribute oxygen to other cells in the body. (4) Police suspect that Litvinenko received between one and 10 gigabecquerels of polonium. Ten gigabecquerels, the maximum suspected dose, would have delivered 10 billion alpha emissions per second. ( 1) The threshold of about 1 Gy would be reached within 2-3 days and the LD50 of 2.5 Gy within one week. ( 5)

The investigation is still in progress and as of this date the autopsy results have not been made public knowledge. Litvinenko is the first human known to die of intentional polonium poisoning and his killer is still at large. The story will make a great murder mystery for Hollywood; we will just have to see if they have their chemistry in order.

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Literature Cited: 1. Geary, J.; Akunov, V.. Pop Sci . 2007 . 270:6, 76-103. 2. Epstein, E. J. Edward Jay Epstein’s Web Log. http://edjayepstein.blogspot.com:80/ (accessed Aug 2007) 3. Coghlan, A.; Ananthaswamy, A.; Schnabel, J. New Sci . 2006 . v192, 8-9. 4. Chivers, C. J.; Cowell, A. Pop Sci , 2007 , 270:6, 104. 5. Harrison, J.; Leggett, R.; Lloyd, D.; Phipps, A. and Scott, B. JRadiol Prot . 27. 2007. 17- 40.

d) If Mr. Litvinenko had been given a dose of 1 µg of 210 Po on November 1, How much was left the day he died on November 23? 0.9 ug left on Nov 23.

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