The Horror of Working With Radium

Marie Beccorrell and her husband isolated two new elements, polonium named after her native Poland, and then radium. They often worked in cramps, cold, hot, not the right equipment. Marie's hands became so damaged from handling radium that he had difficulty dressing himself. His bones ached, and he walked like a man 20 or 30 years older. And I think there were both physical problems. Many of the other women's stories reflect this kind of thing, perhaps not such an extreme way. Some bought radium-enhanced water, while radium salts were sewn into performers' costumes to glow in the dark.