Raadium-Based Paint In Ottaw A Case Study

In the early 1900’s, the discovery of a luminescent material, radium, arrived on the scene to the delight of a fascinated and eager public. At first, it seemed to be a miracle remedy, not just harmless but even beneficial. However, when a multitude of watch dial painters were exposed to this substance on an extremely consistent basis, the negative effects began bubbling to the surface. These “Radium Girls” were unknowingly consuming a potentially lethal substance and would be the first victims of radium poisoning and radioactivity. Not many people knew about the dangers of radioactive substances or radium poisoning and many others had made judgements that were clouded by the perfection of the glowing sensation. In spite of this, the horrific afflictions that the Radium Girls endured helped shift the public perspective of radium from “wonder drug” to “pitiless poison” and started the country on a path to regulating the handling of radioactive

That accident was at urban centre in 1986. consistent with the report two-handed down in 2000 by the global organisation X c. Committee on the consequences of Atomic Radiation, twenty eight employees died within the initial 3 months when the incident, nineteen died between 1987 and 2004 of varied causes not essentially related to radiation

Amelia Maggia was 21 when she went to work at the U.S Radium Corporation factory. She worked at the factory for four years before she had to quit, due to health problems. She had gradually contracted symptoms such as anemia, joint pains, and weight loss. A few months later, on September 12, 1922, at the age of 25, she died. Her death certificate read “ulcerative stomachitis.” But when four other dial-painters died in the following years, and as many more, including Amelia’s two sisters, contracted similar symptoms of anemia, tumors, bone damage, and weight loss, medical examiner Harrison Martland decided to investigate. In 1927, he asked Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler to assist him to find an experiment that would help prove his theory that radium was the killer. What they discovered would forever change the way the world handled

The book “Radioactive Boy Scout” is a true story about a boy named David Hahn that attended a Michigan high school. His goal was to set out and build a fast breeder reactor in his garden shed. He educated himself in these things by reading popular mechanics and the golden book of chemistry experiments. Whatever he could not get from laboratory suppliers, universities, hospitals, and nuclear agencies, he made himself. David collected household smoke detectors and extracted americium-24. He also got assembled gas mantle covers and pulverized them to get radioactive thorium and took the Geiger counter in to an antique shop where he found a clock with a phial of radium paint left in it. With a little bit of things he had

These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich was performed by Grapevine High School Theatre, December First and Second at Grapevine High School. These Shining Lives is the story of Catherine Donahue. Catherine Donahue was employed at the Radium Dial Factory, a factory known for its generous pay with easy labor. Radium Dial produced glow in the dark watches hand-painted with a radium compound. Working at the factory all of the factory workers were using a technique known for painting china, where the painter would twist the brush in between their lips to get a fine point upon the brush. When the material was consumed, it permanently embedded itself within the bones of the workers, where it continued to emit radiation for the entirety of the victim's

Radium City is a 1920s documentary about the Radium Girls of Ottawa, Illinois. These young women were in high school or just graduated from high school and went to work at Radium Dial; it was a plant where watches and clock dial were painted with radium. In order for the women to paint the best fine point font, they were to bring the paintbrush to a point with their lips, dip the brush into the radium, and begin painting the numbers. The watches and clocks were painted with radium because it was known to glow in the dark, so the young women also painted their faces, and even some painted their teeth, with the radium. During this time period, it was unclear to the public the danger of the radioactive chemical. It was not until these young women began to

The army created the Manhattan-Rochester Coalition to carry out the Manhattan Project that would conduct human radiation experiments to determine the effects of atomic radiation and radioactive contamination on the human body, generally on people who were poor, sick, or powerless. (Martino-Taylor, Behind the Fog). The tests were usually performed, funded, or supervised by the United States Military. During these tests, the army purposefully released radioactive chemicals over cities in the United States. The purpose of the tests was to measure the health effects of radioactive fallout that resulted from nuclear bomb tests. The focus of this research paper will be the testing done in St. Louis, MO. Another example of similar testing involves

The city of Waukesha was “pleased to report” that their water tested negative for everything but Radium and Gross Alpha. Radium is element number 88 on the periodic table and from the name, you can guess that this element is highly radioactive and can be very harmful to the human body. For starters, if radium is ingested and absorbed into the cells and tissues, it can and will start to deteriorate the surrounding tissues. Specifically, radium may cause problems in the immune system including anemia. Radium can cause cataracts and fractured teeth (from breaking down tissue, including bone tissue). High levels of radium have also been known to cause an increased risk in bone, liver, and breast cancers. Gross Alpha is a type of radiation that is released when any naturally occurring radioactive element changes to produce a “decay product”, such as radium. These decay products are formed after billions of years. Alpha radiation is everywhere, in our soil, air, and in our water. This is because or earth’s bedrock consists of varying amounts of radioactive elements. The alpha radiation also varies in our water, due to the water in deep aquifers or wells touching the bedrock; the water may contain the same or less than the same amount of elemental decay. Alpha radiation in drinking / ground water can be in the form of dissolved minerals, or as a gas

In the early 1900’s radium was “the latest miracle substance” (Hersher & Blum, 2014). Salesmen promised that it extended lifespans, increased sex drive, made women more beautiful, and had many other fantastic effects. The world was infatuated with radium and displayed this by putting it in slews of items including face cream, bread, chocolate, suppositories, toy sets for children, drinking water (as shown in figure 1), toothpaste, watch faces, and many more products. (List from scribal.com, 2007) It was used often in pharmaceuticals and described by advertisers as “nature’s way to health.” “Doctors used it to treat everything from colds to cancer.” (Hersher & Blum, 2014) However, the “magical” substance that was radium turned out to

The story of radium girls has to begin with the discovery of radium in 1898 by

In addition, all the uranium pellets (energy source) that Canada has ever used have totaled up to 1.3 million fuel bundles which are approximately 200 million tonnes of pellets. They are typically about 1 cm in diameter and 1 cm long of Uranium oxide. The pellets are disposed of by being used or being placed in a pool of water until we can find a permanent location. Low-level radioactive waste is disposed of in landfills because they barely cause any harm. High-level radioactive waste is either placed deep underground or also placed in a pool. Many people believe that these methods are improper, but there are many organizations that regulate safety before anything. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commision is an organization that regulates nuclear energy in a way so it protects health, safety, security and the environment. This organization is under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, meaning it protects the safety of people and the environment, regulates nuclear substances, and researches scientific and technical information, (eg.transportation). Even though there have been three major accidents with nuclear reactors, Canada has never had any accidents in 40 years and we hope to keep it this

Later the EPA admitted that people who work at the West Lake Landfill have to be cautious and careful to protect their health. According to Veronica LaCapra’s report, "Landfill Fire Threatens Nuclear Waste Site Outside St. Louis." if the Westlake Landfill’s soil is disarranged, “radioactive dust particles could be released into the atmosphere.” Unfortunately, it may lead to the inhalation of airborne radioactive dust particles. If these particles are inhaled by workers it could seriously harm their health. The EPA suggested that continued monitoring is advised and necessary, due to possible elevated levels of radon in the air at the landfill and the surrounding area. It seems full safety processes must be put into place to reduce harmful dusting to protect everyone from potential exposure during any cleanups.

In Denver, so many children since 1952, could have been playing in the streams, rivers, and fields that were later found out to be contaminated with plutonium. The plant was making atomic bombs, and then had to pay for it later. The operator's plead guilty for criminal violations of environmental law. The people had no idea that radioactive waste was leaking into the surrerenung water, and if plutonium is inhaled it can be lodged into the lung tissue and it creates a constant and ongoing source of radiation. There were plumes of radiation all over the Denver metro area. It took almost 10 years and a heavy cost of 7 billion dollars; the estimate was it would take 70 years and 30 billion dollars (Text 1, Page 4-6). Coloradans still don’t believe that our environment has been safe even though the plant closed down the making of weapons since

They now began the tedious and monumental task of isolating these elements so that their chemical properties could be determined. During the next four years, working in a leaky wooden shed, they processed a ton of pitchblende, laboriously isolating from it a fraction of a gram of radium.      In 1903,

Radioactivity has been around since the 1800s. It is very popular in the medical field. It is used my many professionals to help diagnose and treat people every single day. Although it does have some advantages and disadvantages, people still use it to this day.