Last week, I was talking about the discovery of phosphorus. The mysterious glow of the element plus its human source quickly made many believe that it could be used as a medicine.
It was prescribed for the treatment of anaemia and to facilitate the formation of new bone. It was included in tonic water for its uplifting effects on health. Indeed, phosphoric acid is still included in many soft drinks for pretty much the same reason.
We now know that phosphorus and its derivatives don't have these medicinal effects. Phosphorus' darker side includes tales of "phossy jaw" which afflicted workers that were over-exposed to white phosphorus while painting match heads - a horrific condition in which the jaw bone rots away.
This is the way with many supposed cures and medical miracles. We are often looking for a quick fix or a magical pill that will somehow destroy cancer or alleviate heart disease. Unfortunately, this also means that some doctors end up using humans as guinea pigs in their trials.
The case of radium - another of the glow-in-the-dark elements - is a classic example.
Radium was discovered in pitchblende by the Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898. Pitchblende is a uranium carrying ore with natural radioactivity. However, the amount of radioactivity is inconsistent with the amount of uranium in the ore.
This led the Curies to search for the source of the extra radioactivity and eventually extract radium. Its name speaks to the fact that it is a highly radioactive member of the decay sequence for uranium.
At the time, little was understood about radiation. However, some of the natural spring waters that doctors prescribed as "health drinks" were also found to be radioactive. This is a consequence of trace levels of radon gas, another member of the radioactive decay sequences and an inert gas that can be found in pretty much all soil. The assumption that was made by some members of the medical profession is that if a little radioactivity is a "good thing" then a lot must be even better. They started to market radium laced water as "radio-thor".
By 1909, Dr. E. Skillman Bailey of the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago unveiled radio-thor before the Southern Homeopathic Medical Association convention in New Orleans. He claimed that he intended the material for medical practice, declaring that it had all of the properties of radium including the capacity to photograph objects through six inches of wood.
With what we know of radiation poisoning now, this sort of claim would set off major alarm bells but in the early part of the twentieth century, not nearly enough was known. Radio-thor was recommended to patients for all sorts of ailments, including curing cancer.
The toxicity of radium itself became apparent over the course of the next decade. Young women were employed to paint luminous numbers on the dials of watches. The luminosity was derived from the radium content of the paint.
As these women worked, they would sharpen the point of their paintbrushes by twirling the bristles on their tongues. And as a consequence, they ended up ingesting significant dosages of radium that resulted in bone tumours as radium behaves chemically like calcium.
However, workers suffering from exposure to workplace hazards was not enough to catch the news. It wasn't until Eben Byers, a New York socialite, died from drinking radio-thor that the public really took notice.
In Byers' case, he was wooed by claims such as those made by Dr. C. G. Davis that "radioactivity prevents insanity, rouses noble emotions, retards old age, and creates a splendid youthful joyous life".
Companies sold radioactive hair tonic, face cream, toothpaste for that 'glowing smile", blankets, soap, candy, contraceptives, and all sorts of other products credited with curing everything from pimples to high blood pressure to arthritis to constipation.
Radioactivity was sold as a cure-all for everything.
On his doctor's advice, Eben Byers began drinking radio-thor. A lot of it. By one estimation, over 1500 bottles between 1927 and 1930. By that time, his fate was sealed.
Byers died a miserable death with his body literally falling apart as his teeth fell out and his bones began breaking under even the slightest load. It wasn't until a radiologist familiar with the case of the "Radium Girls" put it all together that the cause of Byers' ailments became clear.
Indeed, at his autopsy, the pathologist was able to photograph his bones by simply placing them on photographic paper and letting the radiation do its job. He was buried in a lead-lined coffin and even 80 years later, his body is too radioactive to handle.
His case prompted the American government to take action and impose restrictions on the sale of substances for medicinal purposes. It also prompted the imposition of restrictions on the ability of doctors to experiment on their patients which are still in place today.
