![]() ![]() ![]() As the original work on radium was carried out by the French scientists, Marie and Pierre Curie, it is not surprising that this was more common in France than elsewhere. CosmeticsĪ number of companies put radioactive materials into cosmetics. All of these commercial applications had a common theme that the rays given off by radium had a ‘vitalising’ effect on the human body. It was added to a wide range of commercial products including: wool for babies, water dispensers, chocolate, soda water, male supports, foundation garments, condoms, toothpaste, suppositories, cigarettes, cleaning products, boot polish, fertilisers, luminous paints and cosmetics. This led to a craze for radium-based products, and radioactivity in general, during the 1920s and 1930s. It was used to treat a wide range of ailments including hair loss, impotence, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, rheumatism, gout, sciatica, nephritis and anaemia. Medically, radium was usually injected or taken in pills. became involved in the physical system of alpha, beta, and gamma rays and the atomic structure in the chemical system of atomic weights, emanations, and transmutations in the medical system of cancer treatments and radon spas in the commercial system of luminous watches, women’s cosmetics, and medical remedies in the artistic system of luminous paintings and middle-class American culture and in the industrial system of radium extractions, the production of luminous paint, and the beauty industry. At the time, this radiation poisoning was referred to as Atomic bomb disease.The 1898 discovery of radium by Marie and Pierre Curie generated a great deal of scientific interest and, before long, medical and other commercial uses were found for this radioactive material. Her death in 1945 was the first to be officially documented as having been caused by radiation poisoning. ![]() The Hiroshima bombing also caused wide-scale radiation poisoning and the actress Midori Naka, present during the bombing, was studied extensively for radiation poisoning. Two scientists from the USA died in 1946 after working with fissile materials without using protective clothing or shielding. The gravity of the effects caused by radiation were not fully understood until the 1940s. This death and many others among radiation enthusiasts sparked intrigue over the effects of consuming radiation-containing products and they were eventually removed from the market. In 1932, a famous American socialite called Eben Byers died after ingesting large amounts of radiation over the course of several years. Radiation poisoning was the cause of the aplastic anemia that eventually killed Curie. It was Marie Curie who protested against these therapies and pointed out that the effects of radiation exposure were poorly understood. Examples included radium enema treatments and radium-containing water tonics. However, before these effects were understood, many radioactive substances had already been marketed by corporations and various physicians. Muller went on to receive the Nobel prize in 1946 for his research. The genetic effects and increased cancer risk associated with radiation exposure were first recognized by Hermann Joseph Meller in 1927. The mutagenic effects of radiation were not realized until decades later. ![]()
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