People used to think radium had mystical healing properties, but then things went horribly awry.
The Bizarre Story Of The Very First Vaccine –
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Can Burnt Food Really Give You Cancer?
“In 2002, researchers at Stockholm University found that starchy foods, when heated to 120 degrees Celsius, created a kind of byproduct chemical called acrylamide. The chemical is produced by a reaction between asparagine, a non-essential amino acid, and certain sugars like fructose. Significantly, the chemical is not found in unheated foods.”
How We Realized Putting Radium in Everything Was Not the Answer
“Beginning in the 1910s, the girls instructed to put radium in their mouths didn’t bat an eyelash. They worked for the United States Radium Corporation painting the numbers and hands on watch faces and military instrument panels. Since the work required great detail, the women were told to “point” the small brush head with their lips, thus ingesting a small amount of radium every time. Each woman would repeat this hundreds of times a day.”
Dark Lives Of ‘The Radium Girls’ Left A Bright Legacy For Workers, Science
“Kate Moore’s new book The Radium Girls is about the young women who were poisoned by the radium paint – and the five who sued United States Radium in a case that led to labor safety standards and workers’ rights advances.”
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This episode of Seeker was written and hosted by Matt Morales.
