The CSI behind exhuming Arafat: Tissue, hair and soil

[NewsCaster]

The remains of the legendary Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have been exhumed. Specimens will be taken to a lab to test for polonium, the same poison used to assassinate spy-turned-dissident Alexander Litvinenko.By Maggie Fox, NBC NewsInvestigators who exhumed the body of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday will be testing samples of tissue, possibly bone, and hair, a forensic specialist says. But they’ll be up against the clock in trying to detect the radioactive substance, polonium, that many Palestinians suspect may have been used to poison him.

It’s tricky looking for evidence of poisoning after a body has been buried, says Bruce Goldberger, director of forensic toxicology at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

“The investigators are likely taking small samples from various regions of the body for polonium testing,” Goldberger told NBC News. “Very small pieces of tissue are needed. You don’t need the whole body.”

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