13.6: Radium Girls

Science and Society - Radium Girls

Thus far, this chapter has focused on the many ways in which the universe churns out heavy elements after the violent explosions of massive stars. We find many of these elements on Earth and, as humans, have found many uses for them throughout history.

Despite their utility, humanity has not always been so aware of the harmful effects these elements can have on the body. Therefore, this Science and Society will discuss one of the unfortunate results of such lack of understanding as a cautionary tale for interacting with radioactive elements. 

In the early 1920s, World War I brought on a host of new technologies in which the general public became very interested. One such technology was glow-in-the-dark paint that could be applied to watches, clocks, and other devices in which it’s useful to see in the dark. The chemical element that produces such a glow effect is called radium.

The Power and Utility of Radium

During this time, companies employed mostly young women to paint watches and other dials, as the public learned about the technology after soldiers returned from the war with their new “glowing” watches. Factories such as General Electric, Waterbury Manufacturing, and Arrow Electric quickly jumped on the trend, hiring workers to produce watches with the special paint.

At first, radium was seen as a miracle substance, giving any surface the power to glow. Women working at the factories “pressed their brushes between their lips before dipping them in radium-laced paint to give their small brushes a nice, fine point”. In addition, painters would apply the substance to their dresses, fingernails, even teeth, to show off at parties and other social gatherings after work.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Radium Girls at Work. An all-female workforce used radium paint without protection at the United States Radium Corporation in 1922. (Public Domain; Author Unknown via Wikimedia Commons)

Just a few months after the “Radium Girls” were employed, workers began showing symptoms of severe tooth and jaw problems, spontaneous bone fractures, and other intense illnesses.

Frances Splettstocher worked at the Waterbury Clock Company, and was one of the first to develop a severe toothache, extending throughout her jaw. A visit to the dentist resulted in extracting a tooth, except that a large chunk of the rest of her jaw detached with it. Soon after, the rest of her mouth began to rot until she had a hole in her cheek. At the age of 21, Frances was one of the first painters to die, within just one month of her first symptoms.

For several years, companies like the Waterbury Clock Comply denied any connection of the working conditions to the fast-growing number of women falling ill. Some even produced in-house “studies”, denouncing any connection between the workers’ illnesses with their working conditions. It wasn’t until 1938 that a woman named Catherine Wolfe Donohue successfully sued the Radium Dial Company over her illness, though she herself was dying during the legal proceedings.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Undark Advertisement. A magazine advertisement by Radium Luminous Material Corporation for Undark, a type of paint made with radium. (Public Domain; Author Unknown via Wikimedia Commons)

A Cautionary Tale

The section Radioactive Elements and Light discussed how some elements produced during a supernova explosion produce energetic gamma rays as they undergo radioactive decay. Modern research has shown that radioactive elements give off alpha and beta particles, along with these gamma rays. Alpha and beta particles are not harmful outside of the human body. However, if ingested (such as through the mouth), these particles can wreak havoc on human organs, causing a host of radiation damage over time.

According to an article published by the Waterbury Observer Newspaper, “Now we understand what happened when the women swallowed radium: since it’s chemically similar to calcium, radium masqueraded as calcium in the bones. But instead of strengthening bones as calcium does, radium slowly kills bone tissue. The women suffered from dental problems because in the jaw, it’s easy for dead bone to be contaminated with bacteria. By swallowing radium, the women were giving alpha particles easy access to their bodies’ soft interior.”

At the time of the post-war radium fad, the chemical element itself had only been discovered 20 years earlier by Marie and Pierre Curie, who did not know the full details on the element’s properties. Marie Curie herself suffered from radiation burns and radiation poisoning, though she was a strong advocate for recognition of workplace harm to the Radium Girls. 

You can read more of the aftermath involving the legal fallout, changes to workers rights and working conditions in the reference articles below. 

Further Exploration: The Book, Play, and Movie

These events have been adapted into a book: Radium Girls by Kate Moore, a play: Radium Girls by D. W. Gregory, and a movie: Radium Girls.

References

Dancis, D. (2018, January 4). The Radium Girls at the National Archives. The Text Message. https://text-message.blogs.archives.gov/2018/01/04/the-radium-girls-at-the-national-archives/

Murray, J. (2011, October 30). After glow – 90 years ago workers at the Waterbury Clock Company began dying after painting radium on clock dials. The Waterbury Observer. https://www.waterburyobserver.org/2011/10/30/2723/

Coursey, B. M. (2021). The National Bureau of Standards and the radium dial painters. Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 126, Article 126051. https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/126/jres.126.051.pdf