During World War I, hundreds of women were employed at the United States Radium Corporation in Orange, New Jersey, to paint watch faces with a glow-in-the-dark paint containing radium. Unaware of the dangers, the women were not provided with protective gear and often ingested the paint, leading to severe health issues, including radiation poisoning, cancer, and death. The company downplayed the risks, but a pathologist's investigation revealed the true cause of the women's illnesses and deaths. The case led to landmark legislation on occupational safety and workers' rights, resulting in regulations that have saved thousands of lives.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. In 1917, many women got jobs in a large warehouse complex in Orange, New Jersey.
2. Women had lower salaries than men at the time, but with the men away at war, women began to do men's tasks and earn about three times more than they used to.
3. The United States Radium Corporation hired women to paint watch faces with a glow-in-the-dark paint containing radium.
4. The employers told the girls that the paint was safe, and no precautions were taken.
5. The girls would often ingest the paint by licking their brushes to sharpen them.
6. Radium is a highly radioactive and harmful element.
7. Pierre and Marie Curie identified radium in 1898, but it wasn't until 1910 that Marie Curie successfully isolated a sample of radium.
8. Many people believed radium was good for their health and used radium-infused products.
9. Around 1920, about 300 women were working at the United States Radium Corporation.
10. After a few years of working with radium, the women began to show the consequences of exposure, including toothaches, tooth loss, and jaw disintegration.
11. In January 1922, a girl named Mole Magica had a toothache and went to the dentist, who pulled out several teeth, but the wounds did not heal.
12. Mole Magica's condition worsened, and she eventually lost her entire jaw and parts of her ear.
13. Mole Magica died in September 1922 due to tumors that took over her jugular vein and caused her to suffocate.
14. Many other girls began to feel the consequences of radium exposure, including a total collapse of their vertebrae, throat skin cancer, and hair loss.
15. In 1924, many people who had worked at the United States Radium Corporation began to die or suffer from severe illnesses.
16. A study appeared in 1924 showing the dangers of radium, but the company tried to discredit the study.
17. In 1925, a pathologist named Harrison reopened Mole's case and found that her death was caused by radiation poisoning, not syphilis.
18. The case of the Radium Girls led to changes in labor laws and workers' rights.
19. Many women filed lawsuits against the companies that worked with radium, and the Supreme Court rejected the companies' appeals in 1939.
20. The Radium Girls' case led to the establishment of regulations that saved thousands of lives in the United States.
21. The last survivor of the Radium Girls, Mabel Williams, died in 2015 at the age of 104.
22. Radium has a half-life of 1600 years and remains in the bones of the Radium Girls, making them glow in their graves.