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World War I -

At the outbreak of World War I, factories were established across the United States to produce watches and military dials painted with radium-containing material so they could be seen in the dark. Women were hired because their small hands were well-suited for the detailed work.

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What is radium? -

Radium is a radioactive chemical element that belongs to the alkaline earth metals group in the periodic table. The silvery-white metal glows faintly in the dark due to its radioactivity, which ionizes the surrounding air.

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Who discovered radium? -

Radium was discovered by Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie in 1898. The discovery was part of their research into radioactivity, which began with their investigation of uranium minerals.

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Radium in the early 20th century -

In the early 20th century, radium began to appear in commercial medicines, tonics, and cosmetics. It was advertised as a promoter of good health and appeared in toothpaste, eye creams, make-up, and even drinking water.

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Radium today -

Due to its high radioactivity and associated health risks, radium is only used in a limited number of specialized applications, including radiation therapy for cancer treatment, industrial radiography, and research settings.

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No safety precautions -

While the United States Radium Corporation was aware of the effects of radium and chemists at the radium plant used lead screens, tongs, and masks, the women in the factories had no protective measures. Pictured is delivery man Hugh McGovern handling a shipment of radium.

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Lip, dip, paint -

To paint the watch faces, the factory workers were encouraged to use a technique called lip-pointing, where they pressed the camel hair brush between their lips to form a fine point before dipping it in the paint. Each time they did this, they ingested a small amount of radium.

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Ghost girls -

Factory bosses repeatedly assured the dial painters that radium was safe. The dust from the radium caused their hair, skin, and clothes to glow, leading to their nickname, "ghost girls." Some even painted their teeth with the radium-laced paint to achieve radiant smiles.

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Radiation in the bones -

The radium ingested by the factory workers became embedded in their bones and accumulated over time, becoming a source of ionizing radiation within the body. The internal radiation gradually killed healthy cells and eventually destroyed their bone marrow and blood cells.

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Eventual sickness -

Eventually, the factory workers began to fall ill. Many noticed their teeth deteriorating, and when dentists removed the affected teeth, their gums failed to heal.

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Jaw problems -

Some workers' jaw bones developed ulcers and broke easily. Amelia Maggia, who worked for the Radium Luminous Materials Corp., had her jaw deteriorate so severely that it had to be completely removed.

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Eventual sickness and the involvement of US Radium -

In 1922, worker Grace Fryer went to the doctor with complaints of feeling weak and her teeth falling out. The doctor believed it may be related to the factory she worked at and suggested US Radium investigate.

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Eventual sickness and the involvement of US Radium -

US Radium sent a doctor and his colleague from Columbia University to examine Grace Fryer. They determined she was in fine health. However, the men were not medical professionals. Instead, the doctor was a toxicologist working for US Radium, and his colleague was one of the company's vice presidents. Together, they attempted to organize a cover-up of the epidemic.

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Syphillis -

US Radium insisted the women's illnesses were not occupational and claimed they were suffering from syphilis, a highly stigmatized venereal disease, to discredit the workers and embarrass them into silence.

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Growing pressure -

Suspicions began to grow, and US Radium hired Cecil Drinker, a Harvard professor, to study the working conditions in the factories and publish the findings. Drinker found that the water was contaminated and that all the workers showed signs of blood contamination.

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The report -

When the report was released to the New Jersey Department of Labor, the companies had changed the document, stating "every [woman] is in perfect condition." No changes were made to factory conditions, and women continued to die.

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Marie Curie's support -

Marie Curie offered the women what little help she could. When some realized it was the radium that was poisoning them, they turned to Curie for a cure. However, she had to be the bearer of bad news, saying, "I would be only too happy to give any aid that I could... [but] there is absolutely no means of destroying the substance once it enters the human body.”

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Fighting back -

When the women realized they only had a limited amount of time to seek justice, five women, Grace Fryer, Edna Hussman, Katherine Schaub, Quinta McDonald, and Albina Larice, banded together. However, the women were only taken seriously when a man died. 

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Dr. Sabin A. Von Sochock -

In 1928, Dr. Sabin A. Von Sochock, the creator of the Undark radium paint, became sick with radium poisoning. When he was confronted with his own death, he pledged to help the women in court with their cause. From this point, courts, papers, and companies finally began to take the case seriously.

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Delaying the trial -

When the case finally went to court in 1928, many of the women were gravely ill. Grace Fryer was unable to walk and others fainted in the courtroom. US Radium tried to stall the trial long enough for the women to die.

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Out-of-court settlement -

Days before the trial, lawyer Raymond Berry reached an out-of-court settlement with US Radium for his five clients. Each of the women received US$10,000, but US Radium still denied its role. It wasn’t until 1938 that a radium worker named Catherine Wolfe Donohue successfully sued the Radium Dial Company over her illness.

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The creation of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration -

The Radium Girls' case was among the first in which a company was held responsible for the health and safety of its workers. It led to a variety of reforms as well as to the creation of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

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Glowing remains -

In 1927, Amelia Maggia's cause of death was listed as syphilis, but her relatives believed she had actually died from radium poisoning. Maggia was exhumed, and when her coffin was opened, her remains were found to be faintly glowing, confirming her family's suspicions.

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Radioactivity -

When a scientist with a Geiger counter walked over the graves of some of the Radium Girls, it showed that their remains were still radioactive, as the half-life of radium is 1,600 years.

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Not all of the Radium Girls died at a young age -

Mae Keane, who lived until she was 107, worked at a factory using radium paint in 1924. She hated the taste of the paint, so unlike others, didn't put the paintbrush in her mouth. Keane disliked the job, and her boss offered to let her go, which ultimately saved her life. Even with the short exposure, she still suffered from bad teeth, migraines, and cancer. 

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'Radium Girls' (2018) -

In 2018, a movie titled 'Radium Girls' was released, depicting the lives of dial painters in the early 20th century. The movie focuses on the struggles of these women to hold the factory owners accountable for the negligent and dangerous working conditions that led to their illnesses.

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Watch faces today -

The use of radium paint was discontinued after the dangers of radium exposure became well-known, particularly following the illnesses of the Radium Girls. Today, tritium (a less harmful radioactive material) or photoluminescent materials that aren't radioactive are used to create luminous watch faces.

Sources: (Britannica) (Ranker) (Science Museum Group)

See also: Nuclear threat: Earth's most radioactive locations

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