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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 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.
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]
An additional hospitalization in June 1996 was later recognized as having been caused by radiation exposure. An investigation in October 1997 found a number of sources throughout and around the property, including 200 radium-226 coated gun sights. The primary and most active source, a metal cylinder containing cesium-137 with an estimated dose ...
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.
All EU countries are required to ensure that the activity concentrations of radium-226, thorium-232 and potassium-40 in construction products which be of concern from a radiation protection point of view, are determined and the resulting radiation exposure assessed before they are placed on the market.
The radium isotope (226 Ra) used has a half-life of about 1,600 years, [7] so radium dials remain essentially just as radioactive as when originally painted 50 or 100 years ago, whether or not they remain luminous. Radium dials held near the face have been shown to produce radiation doses in excess of 10 μSv / hour.