Cancerous radioactive particles in cigarette tobacco

Tobacco has been in use since ancient times in different forms. Smoking of tobacco has and is always a topic of debate owing to ills effects and systemic problems. It is known that even second hand smoke is not good for your health and can even lead to genetic abnormalities. It was compelling to read reports about tobacco leaves that can contain radioactive material. This radioactive material can lead to increase in cancer among people consuming this tobacco.
What do reports reveal about radioactive material in tobacco leaves?
The tobacco leaves used in making cigarettes contain radioactive material, particularly lead-210 and polonium-210. The radionuclide content of tobacco leaves depends heavily on soil conditions and fertilizer use. Soils that contain elevated radium, lead to high radon gas emanations, affecting the surrounding tobacco crop. Radon rapidly decays into a series of solid, highly radioactive metals (radon decay products). These metals cling to dust particles, which in turn are collected by the sticky tobacco leaves. The sticky compound that seeps from the trichomes is not water soluble, so the particles do not wash off in the rain.
The major source of the polonium is phosphate fertilizer,which is used in tobacco crop. The trichomes of the leaves concentrate the polonium when tobacco is dried and processed.