Radium

Radium

The story of radium begins in year 1898. The element was discovered by Marie and her husband Pierre Curie. The couple discovered the element from a radioactive element that is called uranium. The element radium is white in colour, but when exposed to air, the colour changes to a silvery black colour. Marie and her husband were extremely fascinated by radium because the element glows in the dark. The reason why radium glows in the dark is because radium is highly radioactive. After studying the element, scientists deemed radium as a non-harmful element that is extremely healthy and could cure almost any condition known to man. Marie and her husband were awarded the Nobel  Prize in physics in 1903. 

Because radium was thought to be so healthy, companies started to make a vast selection of products that contained radium and could be purchased by the public with no restrictions at all. Some of these products that contained radium were: Radium paint, radium chocolate, radium toothpaste, radium water, and many other products containing radium.

During the first World War, women sought employment to support the war effort. A group of girls from Newark, New Jersey got hired as dial painters for a company who produced clocks and watches. The ladies would apply highly radioactive paint that contained large amounts of radium to the dials of the watches so the dials would glow in the dark. The ladies were dubbed the nickname “The Radium Girls” because of their constant interaction to radium. In-order to keep a sharp on the paintbrush, the ladies would insert the bristles into their lips and pull it out so the bristles would, be straight. The ladies continued using this method for many years, the ladies were completely unaware to how lethal radium can be. In the year 1922, the ladies started to experience the toxic effects of radium. Some of the dial painters started to lose their teeth, and their hair, and develop cataracts, while some of the dial painters developed large cancerous tumours on their lower jaw or around their hips. The ladies all died a slow painful death. Unfortunately, the dial painters were not the only ones who suffered from a slow painful death; the people who consumed other products that contained radium started to suffer from radiation poisoning or cancer, and eventually led to death.

Scientists examined radium more in depth and learned that radium emits harmful radiation waves that are called beta and gamma rays. These harmful rays that are given off from radium are known to cause radiation poisoning, cancer, and can also alter a persons’ DNA. The commercial use of radium was banned for public use in 1938. Now radium is only produced in small quantities, it is estimated that approximately 100g is produced a year because it is so toxic.

References

DieGroteske (2015). Radium Old Fashioned Under Light. Retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/radium-old-fashioned-under-light-1005499/