In 1922, a 25-year-old girl went to the doctor with a toothache, and when the doctor gently touched her teeth, her jawbone was shattered like ashes, and she died only four months later. Two years later, more than a dozen girls who worked with her also died tragically.
In a dimly lit factory, the sound of heavy work and the whispered conversation of female workers came and went. Even though I was exhausted, I still had to efficiently apply radium, the light-emitting material of my watch.
"Maggie, what's wrong with your hand?" Catherine noticed her friend caressing her jaw with a handkerchief, her expression full of pain.
"Kai, I have a terrible toothache and may have to go to the dentist." Maggie's voice was low and a little shaky.
A day later, Maggie came to Dr. Kneff's clinic, told the doctor about her symptoms, and before the doctor could say anything, she went straight to the tooth extraction. After the initial examination, the doctor gently touched her teeth, but unexpectedly, just by touching it, the teeth were shattered, and even the jawbone was severely shattered.
"It's very serious, I suspect you're poisoned." Dr. Kneff said with a solemn face.
Maggie just listened quietly, her mind blank. After leaving the clinic, she did not immediately go home, but walked to the bar where she had agreed with Catherine, trying to digest the sudden bad news before telling anyone.
"What's wrong, Maggie? Look at your face is very bad. Catherine asked with concern.
"The doctor said I might have been poisoned and I needed further tests." Maggie replied in a whisper.
In the months that followed, Maggie's condition deteriorated rapidly. Not only did she have a toothache, but she also started to have dull pain in her feet and buttocks. After an urgent general examination, it was confirmed that the amount of radium in her body was well above normal, but in those days, radium was considered a miracle element and was widely used to treat various ailments.
Despite receiving the so-called "radium treatment", Maggie's condition did not improve and eventually passed away. Other female workers in the factory, due to their long-term exposure to radium, began to show similar symptoms, and one after another collapsed.
Over time, this series of deaths attracted the attention of the outside world. After investigating the cause of death of the female workers, a chemist found that they had abnormal levels of radium in their bodies and made public about the dangers of radium.
At the beginning of the 20th century, radium, as a newly discovered element, was widely praised as a "miracle element" with healing properties. However, over time, the dark side of radium began to emerge, especially after it was linked to the health problems of female workers in industrial production. These workers, known as the "radium girls," suffered serious health effects from prolonged exposure to radium-containing substances.
At a scientific conference, a well-known chemist gave a major speech on the dangers of radium. "These cases are clearly different from common syphilis deaths, and radium is the real killer," he stressed. The speech marked a public acknowledgment of the dangers of radium and revealed the serious consequences of its industrial use.
In his presentation, the chemist mentioned that while radium was originally used to treat cancer and other diseases because of its natural luminescent properties in the dark and its perceived "healing powers," over time, there was growing evidence that radium's radioactive properties were actually extremely harmful to humans. He described in detail how radium affects the bones of the body, especially how it can lead to brittle bones and damage to the bone marrow, which can eventually lead to serious blood disorders such as anemia and leukemia.
In addition, the chemists referred to specific case studies involving women workers who used to work in radium processing plants. These women often use small brushes and sharpen the bristles with their lips in order to more precisely apply radium-containing luminescent paint to the dials of watches and instruments. This practice resulted in them ingesting trace amounts of radium, which accumulated in their bones over a long period of time.
Chemists highlight that many of the deaths of these women workers were initially misdiagnosed as syphilis or other common diseases. But further investigation and autopsy revealed that the buildup of radium in their bodies led to severe osteoporosis and fractures, as well as other related health problems, which were completely different from the symptoms caused by syphilis.
At the meeting, he called for strict regulation of the use of radium and suggested stricter industrial safety standards, especially in industrial applications involving radioactive materials. The chemist's speech drew a lot of attention at the conference, prompting more scientists and policymakers to pay attention to the potential dangers of radium and other radioactive materials.
The scientific conference was a turning point, not only because of the chemists' presentations, but also because it brought together a large number of scientists to promote improvements in policies for the management of radioactive materials. In the years that followed, laws and regulations regarding the safe use of radium began to be strengthened and enforced, and commercial applications of radium began to be more severely restricted and monitored.
Although these changes came late and failed to save the lives of the earlier "radium girls", they provide better protection for future workers from more potential health hazards. It is also a reminder to industry and science that the application of new technologies and substances must be subject to adequate risk assessment and prudent management to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.
Resources:
A Study on the "Radium Girl Incident" in the Early 20th Century
