State labor and health agencies were able to halt lip pointing, but their power over industry was sometimes limited. For example, the New Jersey Labor Department issued to U.S. In New Jersey, reformers won their fight for a law allowing compensation for "radium necrosis." Public discussion turned to compensating victims and limiting radium exposures-duties that usually fell to state courts and agencies. The tragic story of the "radium girls" transformed radiation's image from panacea to poison. The half-life of Ra-226 is about 1,600 years.) The isotope's bone-seeking properties and long half-life made it particularly dangerous. (The time required for the radioactivity to decrease by one-half is referred to as the half-life. Infections and cancers of the jaw followed from the ingested radium. The intricate work required them to "lip point" their brushes by licking them. Its victims were young women-watch-dial painters in New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois. In 1925, the New York Times reported one of the earliest instances of radiation-induced cancer. Radium's luminescent properties also made possible glow-in-the-dark paint for watch dials. Manufacturers hawked quack products they claimed were laced with radium as a miracle cure and status symbol: elixirs, kitchenware, clothes, pillows, razor blades, and cigarette holders, even condoms. One physician claimed that radium's "radiation prevents insanity, rouses noble emotions, retards old age, and creates a splendid youthful joyous life." Its radiation reduced tumor growth, and researchers found somewhat elevated levels of radiation at some medicinal spas, such as Saratoga Springs, N. Soon after the Curies' discovery, radium became a consumer and medical sensation. This three-part blog series traces radium's long unique history where states took the lead in regulating it and compensating victims. Until that time, it was primarily regulated - to varying degrees - by the states. Radium taught the world of radiation's dangers, yet it was not until 2005 that Congress put all aspects of radium safety oversight under the federal government. Sobering reality replaced euphoria as radium factory workers began to die. When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered Radium-226 in 1898, it opened up the atom's secrets and offered hope that its mysterious radioactive rays were a miracle cure.
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