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Several of these workers died from illnesses caused by radium exposure. [5] Many rocks and soils contain low concentrations of 226 Ra, which forms from the radioactive decay of naturally occurring uranium. The decay of 226 Ra produces radon-222, a radioactive gas that can accumulate in inadequately ventilated homes and other enclosed spaces.
The book suggests that radium-228 exposure is more harmful to health than exposure to radium-226. Radium-228 is more likely to cause cancer of the bone as the shorter half-life of radon-220 compared to radon-222 causes the daughter nuclides of radium-228 to deliver a greater dose of alpha radiation to the bones. It also considers the induction ...
Radium Dial, the company that hires the women to do the painting, tells them that there is no evidence that radium is harmful, and even that it has health benefits. After a period of time, the workers notice that their hands start glowing in the dark, but assume that it is just from the radium powder that is used to paint the faces.
The company is notable for being involved in the radium poisoning of the Radium Girls. The workers in the factories were told that the radium paint was harmless. Radium's negative health effects were well-known at the time, however it was thought that small amounts of radium were not dangerous and even a cure for lack of energy. [1]
Radium paint was widely used for 40 years on the faces of watches, compasses, and aircraft instruments, so they could be read in the dark. Radium is a radiological hazard, emitting gamma rays that can penetrate a glass watch dial and into human tissue. During the 1920s and 1930s, the harmful effects of this paint became increasingly clear.
Potassium-40 (up to 88% of total activity), carbon-14 (14 C), radium-226, uranium-238 and rubidium-87 (87 Rb) are found in ocean waters. Moreover, in groundwater abound radius radioisotopes such as radium-226 and radium-228 (228 Ra). [7] [8] They are also habitual in building materials radionuclides of uranium, thorium and potassium (the latter ...
Grace Fryer (14 March 1899 – 27 October 1933) [1] was an American dial painter and Radium Girl, [2] who sued U.S. Radium after suffering radium poisoning while employed painting watch faces. [3] Subsequently, joined by fellow workers Quinta McDonald, Albina Larice, Edna Hussman, and Katherine Schaub, Fryer brought a suit labelled in the media ...
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