In the late 1950s, Commoner became well known for his opposition to nuclear weapons testing, becoming part of the team which conducted the Baby Tooth Survey, demonstrating the presence of Strontium 90 in children's teeth as a direct result of nuclear fallout.
However Sting was dissatisfied with Padovani's technical abilities, paving the way for Andy Summers, whom they met after a brief tour as part of Mike Howlett's band Strontium 90.
In particular, in protesting atmospheric nuclear testing, they emphasized that Strontium-90 from nuclear fallout was being found in mother's milk and commercially sold cow's milk, presenting their opposition to testing as a motherhood issue,4 what Katha Pollitt has called "a maternity-based logic for organizing against nuclear testing."6 As middle-class mothers, they were less vulnerable to the redbaiting that had held in check much radical activity in the United States since the McCarthy Era.4