Polonium in the Earth's crust are not harmful. Polonium has been found in tobacco smoke from tobacco leaves grown with phosphate fertilizers. Because it is present in small concentrations, isolation of polonium from natural sources is a tedious process. The largest batch of the element ever extracted, performed in the first half of the 20th century, contained only (9 mg) of polonium-210 and was obtained by processing 37 tonnes of residues from radium production. Polonium is now usually obtained by irradiating bismuth with high-energy neutrons or protons. In 1934, an experiment showed that when natural Bi is bombarded with neutrons, Bi
Polonium room temperature. Tetrahalides can be obtained by reacting polonium dioxide with HCl, HBr or HI. Other polonium compounds include potassium polonite as a polonite, polonate, acetate, bromate, carbonate, citrate, chromate, cyanide, formate, (II) and (IV) hydroxides, nitrate, selenate, selenite, monosulfide, sulfate, disulfate and sulfite. Oxides Hydrides Halides Polonium has 33 known isotopes, all of which are radioactive. They have atomic masses that range from 188 to 220 u. Po (half-life 138.376 days) is the most widely available and is made via neutron capture by natural bismuth. The longer-lived Po (half-life years, longest-lived of all polonium isotopes) and Po (half-life 2.9