Just two weeks before his death, Litvinenko accused Putin of ordering the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya.
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On 3 November 2006, Litvinenko (under the name of Edwin Carter) was admitted for further investigation at Barnet General Hospital, London.[16] After being moved from his local hospital in north London to University College Hospital in central London for intensive care, his blood and urine samples were sent to the UK's Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) for testing. Scientists at AWE tested for radioactive poison using gamma spectroscopy. No gamma rays were detected; however, a small spike was noticed at an energy of 803 kilo-electron volts (keV). The BBC reported that by coincidence another scientist, who had worked on Britain's early atomic bomb programme decades before, happened to overhear a discussion about the small spike and recognised it as the gamma ray signal from polonium-210, which was a critical component of early nuclear bombs. On the evening of 22 November, shortly before his death, his doctors were informed the poison was likely to be polonium-210. Further tests on a larger urine sample using spectroscopy designed to detect alpha radiation confirmed the result the following day.
Unlike most common radiation sources, polonium-210 emits very little gamma radiation, but large amounts of alpha particles which do not penetrate even a sheet of paper or the epidermis of human skin, and is therefore invisible to normal radiation detectors. This explained why tests conducted by doctors and Scotland Yard at the hospital with Geiger counters were negative. Both gamma rays and alpha particles are classified as ionizing radiation which can cause radiation damage. An alpha-emitting substance can cause significant damage only if ingested or inhaled, acting on living cells like a short-range weapon.[18] Hours before his death, Litvinenko was tested for alpha-emitters using special equipment.
Shortly after his death, the UK's Health Protection Agency (HPA) said tests had established that Litvinenko had significant amounts of the radionuclide polonium-210 (210Po) in his body. British and US government officials said the use of 210Po as a poison had never been documented before, and it was probably the first time anyone had been tested for the presence of 210Po in their body. The poison was in Litvinenko's cup of tea. Those who had contact with Litvinenko may also have been exposed to radiation.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko
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