![]() It is mainly descriptive, except for the last chapter entitled "Conclusions." Deadly Glow describes in detail the disease of radium poisoning suffered by young women workers who painted mainly watch dials in the 1920s. The major part of this book is an examination of the story of the radium dial workers' ordeal. He includes its discovery, the search for ore, early experiments, and the interesting, but not unusual, idea of medical uses of radium (other dangerous industrial poisons, such as lead and mercury, have also been utilized for medicinal purposes). Before telling the tragic story of the radium dial workers, he introduces his readers to radium in his first three chapters. It was administered orally, by inhalation and injection, and by enema and suppository" (p. Ross Mullner informs his readers that "radium was used internally to treat hundreds of diseases, including everything from acne to insanity. Later physicians used it to treat a variety of cancers. For example, in 1901 a French physician utilized it in an effort to cure lupus and other skin lesions. Simultaneously, medical uses for radium were explored. Ironically, the Curies, although they themselves were injured by radium and they knew of its harmful effects, refused to admit that it caused the illnesses from which they chronically suffered. Soon after the Curies isolated radium in 1898, its local effects on skin and subcutaneous tissues received some attention but only a small number of persons were exposed to the new element, and it had the reputation, although false, of being harmless. Washington, D.C.: American Public Health Association, 1999. Deadly Glow: The Radium Dial Worker Tragedy. Book Review Deadly Glow: The Radium Dial Worker Tragedy In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:īulletin of the History of Medicine 75.3 (2001) 611-612 Radium dial by By Arma95 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0. Images: Waterbury Clock by By Magicpiano – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0. With thanks to The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore. ![]() If you enjoyed this story, you may also want to read about child labor here. ![]() However she lost all her teeth and suffered from colon cancer and breast cancer. She had only worked as a dial painter at Waterbury Clock for a few months, which probably extended her life. In 2014, May Keane, the last of the radium girls, died in Middlebury, Conn., at 107. Waterbury Clock also wangled a change in Connecticut’s workmen’s compensation law, shortening the statute of limitations to three years from five. The New Jersey radium girls did win a settlement, but USRC managed to wriggle out of further liability. USRC argued in court that no other cases of radium poisoning existed. I have heard a number of rumors such as you have, but know nothing about them,“ wrote the commissioner. In 1927 the lawyer wrote to the workmen’s comp commission in Connecticut. She told the New Jersey lawyer to look into the Waterbury Clock Co. She had identified the occupational dangers of the Danbury hat factories, and she heard about the Waterbury girls. The company settled out of court, but Katharine died at the age of 30 after suffering excruciating pain.Ī Harvard professor named Alice Hamilton tried to help. Katherine later contracted radium poisoning and, with four other dial painters, sued USRC. She had worked as a dial painter in Orange, N.J., at the United States Radium Corporation (USRC). In 1920, Katherine Schaub had come to train the radium girls at the Connecticut watch studios, including the Waterbury Clock Co. She was also one of dozens who died from radium poisoning. She was one of hundreds of young immigrant women hired to paint luminous paint onto the popular new watch dials in Connecticut – in Waterbury, Bristol, Thomaston and New Haven – and in Orange, N.J., and in Ottawa, Ill. Her mouth rotted until she had a hole in her check. When a dentist pulled a tooth, part of her jaw came with it. She developed severe anemia, and her teeth hurt. In 1925, Frances Splettscher died of radium poisoning after an agonizing illness. They painted their dress buttons with it and their fingernails, and they painted rings on their fingers. The radium girls believed their supervisors. The company told them it would give them glowing health. The radium girls didn’t think radium carried any danger. The radium girls’ ailments mimicked a condition called phossy jaw
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