As of 2014, other than its use in nuclear medicine, radium has no commercial applications. Radium is not necessary for living organisms, and its radioactivity and chemical reactivity make adverse health effects likely when it is incorporated into biochemical processes because of its chemical mimicry of calcium. In nature, radium is found in uranium and (to a lesser extent) thorium ores in trace amounts as small as a seventh of a gram per ton of uraninite. Radium was isolated in its metallic state by Marie Curie and André-Louis Debierne through the electrolysis of radium chloride in 1911. ![]() They extracted the radium compound from uraninite and published the discovery at the French Academy of Sciences five days later. Radium, in the form of radium chloride, was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898 from ore mined at Jáchymov. When radium decays, it emits ionizing radiation as a by-product, which can excite fluorescent chemicals and cause radioluminescence. All isotopes of radium are radioactive, the most stable isotope being radium-226 with a half-life of 1,600 years. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather than oxygen) upon exposure to air, forming a black surface layer of radium nitride (Ra 3N 2). It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Anemia continues to be a problem for cancer patients who undergo radiation therapy.Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. Marie Curie, the famed scientist who discovered radium and praised its use, died of aplastic anemia in 1934 as a result of prolonged radium exposure. When initial reports of radium's dangers emerged, however, companies that utilized radium in their products immediately passed the blame onto other sources.Įxhaustion among factory workers may have been linked to anemia, which was also a common affliction resulting from radium exposure. Additionally, they were treated with radium for other illnesses such as arthritis or fatigue, so attributing their symptoms to radium is impossible. Female factory workers who dealt with radium initially reported exhaustion, but this was often attributed to various other illness, including syphilis. Due to the paucity of records on patients given early radium treatments, assessment of their initial symptoms is more difficult than it otherwise may have been. The popularity of and confidence in radium made its identification as a cause of illness difficult. All the remaining bone tissue of his body was disintegrating and holes were actually forming in his skull." According to his lawyer, who was shocked after visiting his client, Byers's "whole upper jaw, excepting his two front teeth, and most of his lower jaw had been removed. When called to testify at Federal Trade Commission hearings concerning the use of radium in consumer products, Byers was unable to do so due to illness. In 1924, a New York dentist, Theodor Blum, was the first to connect "radium jaw" with the women working with the element.Įben Byers, an avid drinker of "Radithor," also experienced similar jaw deterioration. ![]() Unfortunately, their bodies were unable to heal from the wounds of tooth extraction––pieces of decayed jaw would often come loose during the procedure. Some doctors hypothesized that the bone deterioration was due to an infection associated with the teeth, but closer inspection revealed that, in many victims of radium exposure, the jaw bone was honeycombed from decay. Many of the factory workers who were exposed to radium daily underwent tooth surgery to help with the radium-induced pain. While no longer widely used in consumer goods, existing radium effects could persist for another 1,500 years before diminishing. ![]() ![]() Radium is not only still commonly used in cancer treatments and some electronics, it also occurs naturally across the globe. The inclusion of radium in common products, however, is mostly a relic of the past. The common use of radium resulted in slow radiation poisoning, which broke down the body by eating away at bones, teeth, and organs. The effects of radium exposure on the body, although frequently attributed to other elements, were often painful and sometimes fatal. The " Radium Girls," factory workers who handled radium daily, experienced numerous health problems, as did consumers of radium water and other fraudulent medical treatments that contained the element. Radium was sold as safe and even beneficial long before the dangers of the radioactive element were understood. During the first part of the 20th century, radium, an alkaline earth metal, was used in countless consumer products like paint, makeup, chocolate, and children's toys.
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