GLOWING GIRLS THE RADIUM TRAGEDY THAT CHANGED HISTORY By
LINDSAY ROMANO ANYA DUNAIF (Editor)
If someone asked you about radium, you would probably tell them that it’s very dangerous or that it glows. These days, it is well known that this element is a health hazard, but how was this discovered? The first examples of radium poisoning recorded are dial painters who worked during the early 1900s in radium factories. They were named “The Radium Girls” by the media, and the name stuck. Their story sparked a revolution for workers’ rights and inspired safety improvements for the scientific field. Radium was discovered by Nobel Laureates Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. However, it was not until 1902 that radium was isolated with electrolysis, the process of running an electric current through a solution. Curie expressed in her notes that radium was a highly dangerous element. She and her husband had experienced burns while working with the element and noted that it was harmful in ways akin to x-rays. Even today, more than a century later, the notebooks used by the Curies are too radioactive to be handled. The radium isotope that is commonly discussed is radium226. It has a half-life of 1600 years and emits ionizing radiation as it decays, mainly in the form of alpha particles and radon gas. Alpha
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particles kill cells by destroying their DNA. Additionally, radium is hazardous because it behaves much like calcium; it is easily absorbed by the body through the digestive system and deposits into the body’s tissues. In the first decade of the 20th century, doctors began experimental radiation treatments with radium because of its similarity to x-rays. Radiation therapy was very successful with cancer patients and helped shrink tumors. It wasn’t long before radium was coined a cure-all. Radium became a part of everyday items such as
toothpaste, beauty products, and butter in addition to treatments for any common ailments. Radium water was especially popular, and consisted of putting water in a radium-lined bucket and leaving it overnight. The radium craze took off and the public disregarded the Curies and other scientists’ warnings. There were no studies that showed the effects of radium poisoning, so people were not willing to heed their caution. Radium also became popular for another distinct property: its glow. Radium watches were all the rage because of their eye-catch-
