When Radium Ruled: Amazing Cure All or Silent Killer?
Welcome to The Oddity Shop, Where the Bizarre is Always on Sale! This week in the Shop, Zach stops by to tell us about the early 20th Century and the publics reliance on Radium as a cure-all Product.
Can you believe that radium was once used in water, toys, and toothpaste, and even butter, cigarettes, and condoms? In this chilling episode of Oddity Shop, we uncover the dark history of radium products and their devastating effects on unsuspecting users.
In this captivating episode, we discuss the courageous watch painters, known as the Radium Girls, who were the first to sue the companies responsible for the widespread use of radium when its horrifying dangers became evident. Despite the clear risks, radium wasn't removed from products until 1970, which leaves us wondering what other potentially hazardous products we might be using today.
Reference Shout Outs:
1. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/03/how-we-realized-putting-radium-in-everything-was-not-the-answer/273780/
2. https://histmed.collegeofphysicians.org/for-students/radium/
3. https://www.britannica.com/story/radium-girls-the-women-who-fought-for-their-lives-in-a-killerworkplace#:~:text=The%20public%20continued%20to%20assume,their%20bodies%20from%20the%20inside.
4. https://flashbak.com/vintage-produce-of-the-day-cure-all-radium-butter-baths-and-drinking-water-16263/
5. https://claremoremoh.org/radium-town-the-smell-of-success/
6. https://academic.oup.com/rpd/article-abstract/79/1-4/1/1611176
7. https://www.supla.fi/episode/ea573633-183d-5532-8aaa-8cb86f0f61c6
8. https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/brands/radium-butter.html
Each Week at the Oddity Shop, Your Curators Kara and Zach will bring you stories from Cryptids to Conspiracies, Cults to Curiosities, Myths to Mysteries, and so much more!Email Us at: OddityShopPodcast@gmail.com
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