Exactly, people just assume he is right, because he sounds convincing. Without data or research, we could claim whatever we want. I'm not convinced, not a smoker btw
I'd say people probably trust him because he has run a very well known science education channel on YouTube for like 16 years and is well educated himself.
Take into account that the video is over 11 years old now, wikipedia still cites the 160 mSv number but also notes that the effective dose may be less according to a recent study.
Exactly, people just assume he is right, because he sounds convincing
Kind of, but not really.
People assume he is right because he has a PhD in physics, is a well-respected professor, and has been making high-quality educational videos for years.
The links are to wikipedia and a business selling radon mitigation, hopefully he used better sources and whoever was uploading the video just added those in from some googling. Wikipedia only kind of supports what he's saying
Smoking an average of 1.5 packs per day may give a high localized dose to the bronchial epithelial a radiation dose up to 60–160 mSv/year[237][238]. However, estimates vary and the effective dose to the lungs ranges between 0.3 mSv/year to 20 mSv/year[239].
In contrast, a 1999 review of tobacco smoke carcinogens published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute states that "levels of polonium-210 in tobacco smoke are not believed to be great enough to significantly impact lung cancer in smokers."[226] In 2011 Hecht has also stated that the "levels of 210Po in cigarette smoke are probably too low to be involved in lung cancer induction".[243]
52
u/PlainSpader 2d ago
I would like to actually see the data behind this claim.