ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the use of radium from 1917 and beyond. It describes how girls and young women were hired to make glow-in-the-dark watches that were used by servicemen. The “radium girls,” as they were called, were not informed of the dangers of this element, while men who worked with this element were told about the problems it caused and were provided with protective gear to prevent exposure to its harmful effects.
The female factory workers were directed to lick the brushes to make them more pointed. Male scientists, on the other hand, were warned about the dangers and were given lead aprons, protective glasses and tongs to use when moving the substance from one place to another.
As a result of this disparity, the girls and young women who worked with radium died awful deaths. In some cases, their jaw bones deteriorated to the extent that they could be pulled out by hand. All types of cancer invaded their bodies. Many women died horrible deaths because they handled radium and were not warned of the dangers, while no men died from handling the element because they were informed.
