Officials at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport are advising passengers to contact British Airways to determine what steps to take to handle fears about possible radiation exposure.

Dulles International Airport officials are doing the same.

On Wednesday, British Airways took three of its short-haul Boeing 767 aircraft out of service after traces of radiation were found on two of the planes. British government officials contacted the airline on Tuesday indicating that they wanted to inspect the planes in connection with the death of former Soviet intelligence agent Alexander Litvinenko, 43.

Investigators reported finding high doses of radioactive Polonium 210, a nuclear isotope, in Litvinenko’s body. He became ill on Nov. 1, was eventually hospitalized and died last week. A spy turned Kremlin critic, Litvinenko blamed the Russian government for his death.

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British Airways officials said that the planes involved in the investigation operated in Europe only and “the risk to the public health is low.” Officials advised passengers to contact their local doctor.

“The airline is in the process of making contact with customers who have traveled on flights operated by the aircraft,” British Airways said in its release Wednesday.

BWI spokesman Jonathan Dean said the airport is advising local passengers to contact the airline.

“The airline has information for their customers,” Dean said.

Rob Yingling, a spokesman for the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority, said passengers who flew aboard British Airways through Dulles International Airport in Virginia should contact the airline.

But Yingling said British Airways did not used the short-haul Boeing 767 out of Dulles.

British Airways does not operate out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

eeldridge@baltimoreexaminer.com