Polonium subjects were chosen because experimenters wanted persons who had not been exposed to polonium either through work or accident. All subjects had incurable diseases. Excretion of polonium was followed, and an autopsy was conducted at that time on the deceased patient to determine which organs absorbed the polonium. Patients' ages ranged from 'early thirties' to 'early forties'. The experiments were described in Chapter 3 of Biological Studies with Polonium, Radium, and Plutonium, National Nuclear Energy Series, Volume VI-3, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1950. Not specified is the isotope under study, but at the time polonium-210 was the most readily available polonium
Polonium dioxide a pale yellow, voluminous precipitate, is formed. Despite its name, polonous acid is an amphoteric compound, reacting with both acids and bases. Halogenation of polonium dioxide with the hydrogen halides yields the polonium tetrahalides: In reactions, polonium dioxide behaves very much like its homologue tellurium dioxide, forming Po(IV) salts; however, the acidic character of the chalcogen oxides decreases going down the group, and polonium dioxide and polonium(IV) hydroxide are much less acidic than their lighter homologues. For example, SO, SO, SeO, SeO and TeO are acidic, but TeO is amphoteric, and PoO, while amphoteric, even shows some basic character. The