ABSTRACT
Radioactivity was a newly discovered phenomenon early in the twentieth century. During the early decades of the century, it was commonly believed that deliberate exposure to ionizing radiation had health benefits. There were numerous radiation “treatments.” Radium salts (inorganic compounds) were sold in health elixirs. People paid for mine tours to breathe air containing relatively high concentrations of radon or to soak in waters containing radioactive ions. Some of these practices continue today, and a health benefit from low-level exposures to ionizing radiation may be real.
