Workers- be grateful if you don't glow in the dark. For your perusal "Undark and the Radium Girls"

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=660

Undark and the Radium Girls
Written by Alan Bellows on November 26th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
From DamnInteresting.com

In 1922, a bank teller named Grace Fryer became concerned when her teeth began to loosen and fall out for no discernible reason. Her troubles were compounded when her jaw became swollen and inflamed, so she sought the assistance of a doctor in diagnosing the inexplicable symptoms. Using a primitive X-ray machine, the physician discovered serious bone decay, the likes of which he had never seen. Her jawbone was honeycombed with small holes, in a random pattern reminiscent of moth-eaten fabric.

As a series of doctors attempted to solve Grace's mysterious ailment, similar cases began to appear throughout her hometown of New Jersey. One dentist in particular took notice of the unusually high number of deteriorated jawbones among local women, and it took very little investigation to discover a common thread; all of the women had been employed by the same watch-painting factory at one time or another.

skip

The owners and scientists at US Radium, familiar with the real hazards of radioactivity, naturally took extensive precautions to protect themselves. They knew that Undark's key ingredient was approximately one million times more active than uranium, so company chemists often used lead screens, masks, and tongs when working with the paint. US Radium had even distributed literature to the medical community describing the "injurious effects" of radium. But inside the factory, where nearly every surface sparkled with radioluminescence, these dangers were unknown. For a lark, some of the women even painted their fingernails and teeth with radium paint on occasion, to surprise their boyfriends when the lights went out.

[csziggy]

1. Thank you - I had heard of the case but not the details

And the most important part is what these women's deaths brought about for US workers:

However one positive development did appear in the wake of the women's legal struggle and subsequent media attention; In 1949 the US Congress passed a bill making all occupational diseases compensable, and extended the time during which workers could discover illnesses and make a claim. Thanks to the Radium Girls and their success in bringing attention to the deplorable conditions in US factories, industrial safety standards in the US were significantly tightened over the following years, an improvement which definitely spared countless others from similar fates.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. For some reason, I have always been fascinated by this story.

It's so sad. I think the story about the Chinese workers being poisoned by mercury in the lightbulb factories made me think of this today.

[Echo In Light]

2. Profits Over People

[mod mom]

3. I used to own a clothing boutique and in the late 80s sold jewelry made from antique

internal watch parts. One day I was contacted by a government agent who informed me that some of the jewelry might have contained radioactive elements. Needless to say that I attempted to contact all who had purchased items from me but on those who paid cash, had no way of contacting.

Please be warned that old watches can STILL be radioactive.

[ensho]

4. kick

nt

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

6. There are many modern counterparts to this story. One is playing out right now where I live

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/05/dominion-kept-7year-secret-fly-ashs-environmental-risks

Also of interest is how the workers who transported and sculpted the stuff were warned/informed/outfitted.