![]() ![]() In fact, it has been estimated that as many as 2.5 million clocks containing Ra-226 were sold by a Florida firm from 1976 to 1978. Radium-containing clocks were last sold in the United States in 1978. ![]() This would suggest that it contains 0.5 uCi, or a little less, of radium-226, a fairly typical value for clocks like this. The exposure rate at one foot is approximately 5 uR/hr above background. There is nothing particularly unusual about it (ca. Today, these former applications are no longer in vogue because radium's toxicity has become known, and less dangerous isotopes are used instead in radioluminescent devices.I suspect that this radioluminescent clock face was made by the Western Clock Company (Westclox) of Illinois. Currently, other than its use in nuclear medicine, radium has no commercial applications formerly, it was used as a radioactive source for radioluminescent devices and also in radioactive quackery for its supposed curative powers. Radium is not necessary for living organisms, and adverse health effects are likely when it is incorporated into biochemical processes because of its radioactivity and chemical reactivity. ![]() In nature, radium is found in uranium and (to a lesser extent) thorium ores in trace amounts as small as a seventh of a gram per ton of uraninite. Radium was isolated in its metallic state by Marie Curie and André-Louis Debierne through the electrolysis of radium chloride in 1911. They extracted the radium compound from uraninite and published the discovery at the French Academy of Sciences five days later. Radium, in the form of radium chloride, was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898 from ore mined at Jáchymov. When radium decays, ionizing radiation is a product, which can excite fluorescent chemicals and cause radioluminescence. All isotopes of radium are highly radioactive, with the most stable isotope being radium-226, which has a half-life of 1600 years and decays into radon gas (specifically the isotope radon-222). Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rather than oxygen) on exposure to air, forming a black surface layer of radium nitride (Ra3N2). It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. This listing is for one radium watch hand in a gem jar. We now have a thorough documentation of the long-term effects of exposure to various radium isotopes for medical reference. Radiation measurements from dial painters’ bodies were even used to establish the tolerance level for radium and provided scientific observations throughout their lives. Management at these companies knew the dangers involved and even avoided radium exposure to themselves however, this information was withheld from the dial painters who were required to use their mouths to bring the paintbrush to a fine point for the tiny parts.Īlthough it was a preventable tragedy, the Radium Girls’ saga led to significant improvements in labor rights and also helped establish legal precedents and labor safety standards in the US which has undoubtably saved many lives. This was to provide glow in the dark functionality, but the workers became ill from radiation exposure and some even died because of it. The Radium Girls were women hired by watch companies to paint dials with a radium-based glowing paint. This wristwatch hand is an artifact of the historic Radium Girls of the 1920s–30s. ![]()
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