At least 140 people were contaminated with radioactivity in London as a result of the assassination of a former KGB officer, it was reported Saturday, according to UPI. Alexander Litvinenko died last November after polonium-210, a radioactive isotope, was slipped into his pot of tea at the Millennium Hotel in London. Tests of hotel guests, staff, police officers, and Litvinenko's friends and relatives show at least 140 were exposed to polonium, 17 of them at levels not high enough to cause immediate health problems but that could present a long-term risk to health, The Guardian reported. Several of those tested are seeking compensation for the mental trauma of being told they have been contaminated, the British newspaper reported. Polonium-210 is colorless, odorless and transparent. It can be carried through airports because it emits alpha energy, and security scanners search for gamma energy. Thus far, Russian has rejected British demands to hand over Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB bodyguard named as the prime suspect in the case.
