Mae Keane, the Last 'Radium Girl,' Dies at 107

http://www.npr.org/2014/12/28/373510029/saved-by-a-bad-taste-the-last-radium-girl-dies-at-107

by benbreen • 12 years ago

102 52 12 years ago

"There was one women who the dentist went to pull a tooth and he pulled her entire jaw out when he did it," says Blum. "Their legs broke underneath them. Their spines collapsed."

Horrific stuff.

I've always found it curious how nonchalant people are with dangerous substances before it's realized how hazardous they can be. My grandfather loaded asbestos into railcars at a factory for 30 years, I still can't quite imagine how he must have felt when he fully realized the dangers it posed.

tectonic• 12 years ago

And the companies knew that it was dangerous too

According to Wikipedia:

The U.S. Radium Corporation hired some 70 women to perform various tasks including the handling of radium, while the owners and the scientists familiar with the effects of radium carefully avoided any exposure to it themselves; chemists at the plant used lead screens, masks and tongs.[1] US Radium had even distributed literature to the medical community describing the “injurious effects” of radium.

synchronise• 12 years ago

And this is why self regulation rarely works in for-profit industries.

sumedh• 12 years ago

I've always found it curious how nonchalant people are with dangerous substances before it's realized how hazardous they can be.

Well, we smoke cigarettes knowing that they are harmful to us.

psykovsky• 12 years ago

And fast-food. Look at all the obesity on the developed countries! And it's not even a case of lack of information, like it used to be.

dredmorbius• 12 years ago

Smoking rates in the US, Europe, and Australia have fallen tremendously. The peak rates were during the 1950s and 1960s, particularly after WWII. Cigarettes had been heavily promoted through films and popular culture, were included in soldier's rations and kits (paid for by tobacco companies), and pitched via advertising aimed directly at children and appealing to women's sense of independence and self-determination.

During which time the tobacco companies were actively concealing the negative health effects and campaigning against not only regulation but simply providing truthful information about tobacco's hazards.

Instrumental in much of this was Edward Bernays, the father of the modern Public Relations industry (he coined the term after the word "propaganda" lost its lustre after its use by Germany in WWI).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

The BBC series by excellent documentarian Adam Curtis (I've encountered a few of his other works and writings recently), The Century of the Self covers Bernays:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Century_of_the_Self

Many of the same methods and techniques were applied to corporate disinformation campaigns against controls over leaded paint, asbestos, ozone, auto safety. Look up GM's attempts to smear Ralph Nader:

In early March 1966, several media outlets, including The New Republic and The New York Times, reported that GM had tried to discredit Nader, hiring private detectives to tap his phones and investigate his past, and hiring prostitutes to trap him in compromising situations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader

Naomi Oreskes has drawn the parallels -- in methods, organizations, and often the very individuals -- between corporate disinformation campaigns in the case of tobacco, smoking, acid rain, CFCs and the ozone layer, and global warming, in her book Merchants of Doubt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchants_of_Doubt

adventured• 12 years ago

Along with Coke, Pepsi and soda in general being one of the most consumed products on earth. It's like a slow form of suicide, and yet people still consume it widely.

Normati2• 12 years ago

When the nature of the hazard is entirely new and it causes no symptoms in the short term, who could imagine it's dangerous? Are we confident that Facebook use won't cause psychological problems as people grow older? That reading endless news stories on the internet won't reduce people's ability to maintain a long train of thought?

gurkendoktor• 12 years ago

who could imagine it's dangerous

There are usually people who do, but they will be labelled anti-progress and anti-science because there is no scientific background for their worries (yet).

DeuceDaily• 12 years ago

who could imagine it's dangerous?

My point of view could be skewed by prior knowledge, but I can still see asking some questions before sticking auto-luminescent material in my mouth.

piokoch• 12 years ago

That's a very interesting story. Radium was a huge hit in its times. That what was happening was even called "Radium fever".

Radium was everywhere including toothpastes, shampoons (cure against hair loss).

Fortunately only a few people could afford Radium-enhaced products, since it was expensive. Side effects started to appear quite soon too.

There were other popular uses of radiation, until '50 many shoes shops had X-ray equimpent that allow to see how shoes fit [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope]. Not that great idea, after all.

For me it is kind of warning against using everything that men invent or men can do. There are always things we don't fully know or understand. In the long term something could be a great danger for all of us.

Before we jump into next great thing it is good to stop for a while...

IndianAstronaut• 12 years ago

Before we jump into next great thing it is good to stop for a while...

I have always wondered what it is in our modern society that is incredibly dangerous that we are still not fully aware of the long term effects. PVC piping, propylene glycol, some food additives?

JanezStupar• 12 years ago

Everything "nano" methinks.

arno_v• 12 years ago

Neverwet? Soylent?

ajuc• 12 years ago

Internet.

mirkules• 12 years ago

There is a much more in-depth article about the Radium Girls and the ensuing cover-up: http://www.damninteresting.com/undark-and-the-radium-girls/

Interestingly, the article I linked missed the woman FTA, possibly because she quit early.

Mae Keane, the Last 'Radium Girl,' Dies at 107

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