Episode 4: Radium! A Tonic for Your Ears!

The discovery of radium in 1898 by Pierre and Marie Curie, along with their assistant G. Bemont, sparked both fascination and commercial exploitation. Marketed as "Liquid Sunshine," radium fetched exorbitant prices and was touted as a cure-all, from cancer treatment to youth restoration. Its luminescent properties also led to its use in self-luminous paint for watches and dials, notably by young women in factories during World War I. Despite assurances of safety, these "Radium Girls" suffered severe health consequences, sparking legal battles that established important precedents in labor rights and workplace safety regulations in the late 1920s and 1930s.

Resources: https://www.britannica.com/science/radium’

Radium Girls by Kate Moor

Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity.org

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