United States Radium Corporation
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| “ | The Power of Radium at Your Disposal | „ |
| ~ Undark advertisement. |
The United States Radium Corporation was an American chemical company established in 1914 by Dr. Sabin von Sochocky which was notorious for their activity between 1917 to 1926. They are known for radioluminescent paint known as the "Undark" created with a mixture of Radium and zinc sulfide. The company is mostly known for the "Radium Girls", a group of female workers who suffered and died of severe radiation sickness as a result of ingesting the radioactive materials.
The facility is currently listed as a Superfund site due to the excess radon and radioactive materials used.
History edit
The United States Radium Corporation was established in 1914 as Radium Luminous Material Corporation. While originally producing uranium, the company moved in producing glow-in-the-dark paint, establishing more facilities on the next several years. Their product is known as Undark, a radioluminescent paint, which was a response during the first World War, where demands in luminescent watches, dials, and aircraft gear are prevalent.
The Radium Girls edit
During the 1920s, the dangers of Radium are not yet known to the public. Around 4,000+ workers were hired in handling radium by the USRC for dial painting. Some of the female workers have been spraying radium in their hair, use it as a nail polish, and even painting their teeth with Undark, being oblivious to the dangers brought by Radium. Because paintbrushes will lose shape on each strokes, they were intructed to perform the "lip, dip, paint" in order to keep the paint sharp. Due to the luminosity of Radium, the workers' clothes would also glow in the dark, thus they were also known as the "Ghost Girls".
The company actually never made the dangers of Radium a secret; the managers and scientists wore safety gears, metal tongs, and LED screen. Even von Sochocky reportedly warn one of the female workers about the dangers of Radium, where when she asked one of the managers, he simply dismissed his warning. Soon afterwards, many of the female workers began experiencing symptoms, the first being the 24-year old worker, Amelia Maggia. After visiting the dentist for oral-related symptoms, the dentists notice numerous lesions, ulcers, and dental problems upon examining their mouth. Soonafter, they develop anemia, fractures, necrosis in the jaw which was later known as the "Radium Jaw". Their bones became too frail that it may crack by a slight pressure. On December 1922, Maggia died due to severe bleeding caused by a necrosis of her jaw. For the next 2 years, 9 more female workers died of radiation sickness with most suffering from bone cancers.
It was reported that the USRC is secretly bribing the doctors to dismiss or misdiagnose their illness, with some doctors under their payroll reported that the autopsy reveals their cause of death was "syphilis", a sexually-transmitted bacterial infection.
Investigations and Lawsuit edit
By 1924, Dr. Cecil Drinker, a physiology professor was sent to investigate the workplace of the facility, deducing that the illness of the workers are connected with the ingestion of radium. The facility has been said to be highly contaminated by radioactive materials, thus recommending to stop the usage of lip, dip, paint. However, USRC simply dimissed his request and even revised his report about the facility, removing any mentions of the safety hazards or the conditions of the workers were labelled as "perfectly fine" while also lying to the US Department of Labour about the verdict of the original report. By 1925, Dr. Harrison Martland, a chief medical examiner investigated his findings about the mysterious illness, it was expected that there were no findings that her cause of death was from syphilis. He discovered that every bones and tissues he extracted from Maggia's body are contaminated by radioactive materials, and he also concluded that those affected will also exhale radons.
One of the workers, Grace Fryer decided to sue USRS under the Occupational Injury Law along with 4 other workers. They suffered a delay in their litigation due to their worsening illness and the fact that the dangers brought by Radium is not yet clearly understood at the time, thus finding an attorney to take on the case was not easy. USRC was allegedly delaying the process in order to lead to more deaths to avoid lawsuit with some even stealing the bodies of the workers who died from radiation sickness to cover-up.
By 1928, the founder of USRC Sabin von Sochocky also suffered radiation sickness. His death became the catalyst in settling their lawsuit despite the USRC's denial of allegations. By the end of the year, each of the surviving workers were compensated with $10,000 for their medical and legal expenses. By the late 1930s, Catherine Wolfe who was also suffering from her illness started her fight for justice, ignoring her doctor's advice and wanting her death to become the evidence for the company's malicious practices and the evidence of Radium poisoning. With her lawyer, Leonard Grossman, Wolfe won the case and USRC was forced to pay.
Until this day, the victim's remains are so contaminated by radiation to the point that their graves are also radioactive.
Legacy edit
The United States Radium Corporation's practices and the Radium Girls serve as the catalyst to life-saving health and safety regulations, leading to the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Their history also made impact on labor rights movement, giving the right of the workers to sue for damages from the corporations that employed them.