Radium Girls

About Radium Girls

The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self luminous paint containing radium. The workers, employed by the United States Radium Corporation in Orange, New Jersey, from approximately 1917 to 1926, were reportedly told to shape their brushes to a fine point with their lips to achieve fine tips. Many also painted their nails and teeth with the glowing paint. The workers began suffering from anemia, bone fractures, jaw necrosis radium jaw, and bone cancer. Dozens of workers are believed to have died from radium exposure. The legal battle by the Radium Girls established the right of workers to sue employers for occupational disease. The case is often cited as an influence on later occupational safety law. Dial painters were paid by the dial. The Radium Girls case remains a landmark in occupational health and workers rights. Studies of dial painters also informed later radiation safety standards.