Written by Thelonia
You’ve likely never heard of the Radium Girls, but their cases weren't just the foundation for worker's safety laws, they were also at the heart one of the biggest industrial scandals of the early 20th century.
Factory workers who painted the numbers onto clocks with Radium (an element which Marie Curie had only recently discovered), the Radium Girls were instructed to wet their brushes with their mouths, unknowingly poisoned themselves with the radioactive substance each time they brought their brushes to their lips. The Radiation poisoning took years to appear, but sooner or later, the Radium took its toll on all who'd crossed its path.
Factory workers who painted the numbers onto clocks with Radium (an element which Marie Curie had only recently discovered), the Radium Girls were instructed to wet their brushes with their mouths, unknowingly poisoned themselves with the radioactive substance each time they brought their brushes to their lips. The Radiation poisoning took years to appear, but sooner or later, the Radium took its toll on all who'd crossed its path.
