WHY RADIUM?
Radium was discovered in 1898 by Polish physicist and chemist, Madame Marie Curie. It was used as an ingredient in many everyday items, including toothpaste/cosmetics, children's nightlights, medicine, water, and clocks and watches. In the medical world, Radium was seen as a "miracle" treatment. Drinking radium-infused water was supposed to be a cure for almost any health issue. It was widely promoted among people, and for a while it did actually help. That is until people began to come forward with some extremely dangerous and controversial issues.
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THE DOWNFALL OF RADIUM
Young factory workers began to sue the US Radium Company. These young women were watch and clock dial painters. They would work day-long shifts in a factory, mixing and using radium-infused paint. When using their paintbrushes, the girls were told to shape them into points by licking the brushes. These young girls were unknowingly ingesting toxic radium every single day. It wasn't long before many fell ill, with a few even dying. At first, the company blamed their deaths and sickness on STDs, specifically syphilis. However, as more and more girls began to sue, the company was forced to investigate, discovering that radium was highly toxic and would lead to death from overexposure or ingestion.
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THE “RADIUM GIRLS”
The girls who sued the Radium Companies struggled immensely. Their lawyers would try to persuade them into taking hush money instead of taking their case to court. This show is about a woman who experienced radium-related sickness, but continued to fight for herself. Unfortunately, this was a rare occurrence. Many women were silenced because of how adamant the companies were about keeping the radium sickness and death quiet.
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