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The document summarizes the plight of the Radium Girls, who painted watch dials with glow-in-the-dark radium paint in the early 20th century. The young women licked their paintbrushes to create fine points, slowly poisoning themselves with radium over time. Their teeth and jaws began fracturing, yet their suffering was ignored until male employees also became ill. A doctor proved the women had been poisoned by radium, and helped one woman find a lawyer to take on her case against the radium companies. This sparked national attention and legal action on behalf of the endangered Radium Girls.

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Siham Amessaghrou
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36 views8 pages

Presentationsih

The document summarizes the plight of the Radium Girls, who painted watch dials with glow-in-the-dark radium paint in the early 20th century. The young women licked their paintbrushes to create fine points, slowly poisoning themselves with radium over time. Their teeth and jaws began fracturing, yet their suffering was ignored until male employees also became ill. A doctor proved the women had been poisoned by radium, and helped one woman find a lawyer to take on her case against the radium companies. This sparked national attention and legal action on behalf of the endangered Radium Girls.

Uploaded by

Siham Amessaghrou
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Radium

girls
THE DARK TRUTH BEHIND LUMINOUS WATCHES
What will we discuss precisely

• the new element

• united s ta tes ra d ium c or p

• the g hos t g ir ls

• not a ll tha t s hines is g old

• w hen d id ex p er ts ta ke c ha r g e ?

• the f ig ht

• the leg a c y we s hould a ll be pr oud a nd g ra teful for


The new element

• B a c k in 1 8 9 6 , Henr i bec quer el wa s the


f ir s t to r ep or t tha t s ome p a r ts of r oc ks
emited ra d ia tions , his w or k wa s
c ontinued by the c oup le ma r ie a nd
p ier r e c ur ie , a s they d is c over ed tw o
new elements ; Polonium a nd Ra d ium

• N ot muc h wa s know n a b out this new


element exc ept for the fa c t tha t it g ave
a fa int g r eenis h g low
U.S radium corporation

• T h i s c o r p o ra t i o n o p e ra t e d ra d i u m m i n e s i n C o l o ra d o
and Utah found a different use of this greenish
e l e m e n t ; t h e y u s e d ra d i u m t o f o r m u l a t e a
luminescent paint they called the undark .

• T h e s u c c e s s s t o r y o f U S ra d i u m c o r p ʻs n e w g l o w i n
the dark paint began in the muddy trenches of
E u r o p e d u r i n g t h e f i r s t w o r l d wa r .

• A f t e r a m e r i c a n t r o o p s j o i n e d wa r i n E u r o p e . T h e U S
ra d i u m c o r p ʻs f a c t o r y w o n a c o n t ra c t t o s u p p l y
ra d i u m d i a l e d wa t c h e s t o t h e m i l i t a r y
THE GHOST GIRLS

• A f t e r w i n n i n g t h a t c o n t ra c t , t h e f a c t o r y
e m p l o ye d d r o ve s o f t e e n a g e g i r l s a n d
yo u n g w o m e n a s d i a l p a i n t e r s w h o w i l l
b e t a s k e d w i t h p a i n t i n g t h e t i ny
n u m b e r s a n d l i n e s o f t h e wa t c h w i t h
the glowing paint , and since the task
needed meticulous precision and an
e x t ra p o i n ty b r u s h , t h e y w e r e
instructed to use their lips to get the
b r i s t l e s w e t a n d p o n i ty .
NOT ALL THAT SHINES IS GOLD WHEN DID THE EXPERTS TAKE CHARGE

• E ve r s i n c e t h e g l o w i n g e l e m e n t h a d • By may 1992 ,Mollie;one of workers

b e e n d i s c o ve r e d , i t h a d b e e n k n o w n t o started to lose teeth until her entire


j a w f e l l , i t wa s nʼ t r e m o ve d b y
c a u s e h a r m . A n d t h a t i s w hy t h e m e n
o p e ra t i o n , b u t m e r e l y f e l l a f t e r t h e
a t t h e ra d i u m c o m p a n i e s w o r e l e a d
dentist put his fingers inside her
aprons in their labs , and handled the mouth .
ra d i u m w i t h i vo r y – t i p t o n g s .
• N o o n e c a r e d a b o u t t h e s e w o m e n ʻs
• A n d ye t t h e d i a l p a i n t e r s w e r e n o t l i ve s . I t wa s o n l y w h e n t h e f i r s t m a l e
afforded such protection ! e m p l o ye e o f t h e ra d i u m f i r m d i e d t h a t
the experts finally took up the charge
THE FIGHT

• Harrison Martland , a brilliant doctor


w h o p r o ve d t h a t t h e ra d i u m h a d
i n d e e d p o i s o n e d t h e w o m e n , g a ve
G ra c e , a f o r m e r e m p l o ye e t h
s t r e n g t h g o f i n d a l a w ye r e ve r a f t e r
countless attorneys turned her down .

• A f t e r G ra c e f o u n d Ra y m o n d B e r r y , a
yo u n g s m a r t l a w ye r , t h e ra d i u m g i r l s
ʻ c a s e wa s f r o n t p a g e n e w s a n d s e n t
a s h o c k wa ve a c r o s s A m e r i c a .
it may be the end of the presentation, but there is far
more to discuss J

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