Polonium were marketed by Firestone from 1940 to 1953. While the amount of radiation from the plugs was minuscule and not a threat to the consumer, the benefits of such plugs quickly diminished after approximately a month because of polonium's short half-life and because buildup on the conductors would block the radiation that improved engine performance. (The premise behind the polonium spark plug, as well as Alfred Matthew Hubbard's prototype radium plug that preceded it, was that the radiation would improve ionization of the fuel in the cylinder and thus allow the motor to fire more quickly and efficiently.) Polonium is
Polonium trioxide radioactive. Similar work with curium shows that it is easier to achieve higher oxidation states with longer-lived isotopes; thus, it may be easier to obtain Po(VI) (especially polonium trioxide) using the longer-lived polonium-208 or polonium-209. It has been suggested that Po(VI) might be more stabilized in anions such as or , like other high oxidation states. Polonium trioxide Polonium trioxide (also known as polonium(VI) oxide) is a chemical compound with the formula PoO. It is one of three oxides of polonium, the other two being polonium monoxide (PoO) and polonium dioxide (PoO). It is an interchalcogen. It has so far