- NEW: Arafat's widow wants his body exhumed
- A stain contained higher levels of polonium-210 than a typical sample, a scientist says
- The test results do not mean Yasser Arafat was poisoned, the scientist says
- Arafat died in 2004 at the age of 75
(CNN) -- The widow of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat wants his body exhumed after tests on some of his personal effects showed unusually high levels of a radioactive substance.
Suha Arafat told CNN Wednesday that she is requesting the body be exhumed "to make sure 100% of the existence of polonium."
She said she has not put in an official request with the Palestinian Authority because it is her understanding that no official request is needed.
The Palestinian Authority said earlier Wednesday that it would have no objections to exhuming the body from its tomb if the family approves.
The tests found unusually high levels of polonium-210, one of the scientists involved in the study said.
The results do not mean that Arafat suffered radiation poisoning, François Bochud told CNN.
Some details in Arafat's medical records are not consistent with polonium poisoning, he explained.
"We have evidence there is too much polonium, but we also have hints from the medical records that this may not be the case. The only way to resolve this anomaly would be by testing the body," said Bochud, director of the Institut de Radiophysique in Lausanne, Switzerland.
If it turns out Arafat, who died in 2004, was poisoned, "Any result will be significant for us to help know the truth," Suha Arafat said. "It is a form of closure for our family. Closing one wound but opening a new one, wondering who is responsible."
Bochud's research team tested Arafat's toothbrush, clothing and keffiyeh, the trademark black-and-white scarf he always wore, Bochud said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ordered a committee investigating Arafat's death to follow up on all reports "and to seek assistance from Arab and international experts to find the truth behind Arafat's illness and death," his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.
It should be possible to measure any remaining polonium -- a naturally radioactive chemical element -- in Arafat's body despite the length of time since his death because he was buried in a tomb, not underground, Bochud said.
Arafat died at the age of 75 at a military hospital in France. He had flown to Paris two weeks earlier for the treatment of a blood disorder, Palestinian officials said at the time.
Arafat's widow, Suha, asked the Swiss institute to analyze some of his belongings and medical documents, Bochud said.
The Qatar-based satellite network Al Jazeera relayed the request and broadcast a report about the tests Tuesday.
There was no evidence of traditional poison, Bochud said. Al Jazeera and the family then asked him to test for radioactive material, he said.
They found an "unexplained amount of polonium-210," he said, cautioning: "We are testing tiny quantities so it is difficult to measure and not conclusive."
A stain from body fluid included 180 megabecquerels of the substance per liter, while a typical sample would contain 5 megabecquerels, Bochud said. The fabric of his clothing itself, without body fluid, contained less than 10 megabecquerels, Bochud said. (A becquerel is a measurement of radioactive intensity by weight.)
Several tests involving biological samples -- such as urine, sweat or blood -- contained higher levels than other samples in the same bag, he said.
Arafat's clothes were inside a sports bag, which his widow said she had left them in since they were returned from the hospital eight years ago, Bochud said.
It was not immediately clear whether anything that happened to the clothes -- over the years or in the testing process -- may have affected the result of the tests.
When asked whether some polonium-210 could have been applied to the items since Arafat's death, Bochud responded that "anything is possible."
Bochud also said the Institut de Radiophysique did not verify that the clothing was Arafat's. Another organization said the DNA on the items matched that of Arafat's daughter, Bochud said.
Zahwa Arafat provided DNA, Suha Arafat told CNN. The long wait for test results, which lasted months, "was emotionally difficult," she said.
Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died of polonium poisoning in London in 2006.
But it's hard to compare the cases of Arafat and Litvinenko, who was diagnosed when he was alive, Bochud said.
Arafat's condition at the time he died was not entirely consistent with polonium poisoning, Bochud said.
"For example, the bone marrow stayed in good shape until (the) death of Arafat. In other cases of polonium poisoning there is a decaying of the bone marrow," the medical expert said. "Another point, he did not lose his hair as would be expected in the case of polonium (poisoning)."
Scientists performed more than 50 measurements on the belongings between February and June, he said.
CNN's Lianne Turner, Josh Levs, Jennifer Bixler, and Miriam Falco contributed to this report.
