![]() The shop girls were given no protection of any kind and even encouraged to lick their brushes to get a fine point for detail work. The men who worked for USRC wore lead aprons to protect them from this radiation, which was known to have a cumulative effect. (Radium Girls) paint numbers on the faces of wristwatches using dangerous radioactive paint. The radium then fires off particle after particle at very close range, eventually mutating and killing the cells around it. When radium is placed next to human cells or in the bloodstream, like when it crosses a mucous membrane such as the gums, it turns into a microscopic machine gun that gets lodged in the body’s tissues. After the sun sets and it gets dark, those electrons spontaneously drop into lower orbits, emitting a particle and some photons as they go. Light photons strike the radium atom, bumping its electrons into a higher orbit. That warming glow radium puts out is caused by the element’s atoms acting like tiny batteries. Inside the body, it wreaks godawful havoc on the body’s tissues. Even nature is full of it as the low-energy particles have a hard time penetrating even one layer of skin. ![]() Countless natural sources of this radiation can be found in the average kitchen or bathroom. Normally, alpha radiation is harmless in small doses. For as long as it lasts, any sample of radium will emit alpha particles in all directions. The only stable isotope of radium is radium-226, which has a half-life of 1,600 years. Unfortunately, that bright element had a dark side. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.Wikimedia Commons An ad for radium water. Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. A timely story of corporate greed and the brave figures that stood up to fight for their lives, these women and their voices will shine for years to come. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America's early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights that will echo for centuries to come. And, until they begin to come forward.Īs the women start to speak out on the corruption, the factories that once offered golden opportunities ignore all claims of the gruesome side effects. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" are the luckiest alive - until they begin to fall mysteriously ill. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe they light up the night like industrious fireflies. Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright. In the dark years of the First World War, radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. in the early 20th century, and their brave and groundbreaking battle to strengthen workers' rights, even as the fatal poison claimed their own lives. ![]() ![]() A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts Bestseller!įor fans of Hidden Figures, comes the incredible true story of the women heroes who were exposed to radium in factories across the U.S. ![]()
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