――――――――― Harmful Inaction ―――――――――
Early Evidence of Radium Harms
Dial-painters working in a factory (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
Radium-dial companies ignored their responsibility to educate workers on the dangers of radium-based paint, causing unsafe working conditions that went unchecked by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDL) due to negligent enforcement of industry safety laws.
Decades before the Radium Girls, many scholarly sources verified the dangers of radium.
1900 - Findings of Friedrich Giesle, employee from Buchler, the first producer of radium products in Germany:
(Prof. Dr. Friedrich Giesel)
“Furthermore, radium owns astonishing physiologic properties. An exposure of the arm to
two 20-minute sessions has produced an inflammation of the skin which has now lasted already for
two weeks” (Mould, Richard F. "Pierre Curie, 1859-1906.”)
- Friedrich Walkoff
“In order to test the results that had just been announced by F. Giesel, Pierre Curie voluntarily exposed his arm to the action of radium during several hours. This resulted in a lesion resembling a burn that developed progressively and required several months to heal.”(Mould, Richard F. "Pierre Curie, 1859-1906”)
- Marie Curie
1900 - Pierrie Curie confirms Giesele’s findings:
