The building where the girls worked. [Library of Congress, 1995]
What's the Harm?
The U.S. Radium Corporation insisted that their product was safe, and that radium would put rosy cheeks on them.
"The first thing they asked was (whether) the paint was harmful, but the managers said it was safe, which was the obvious answer for a manager of a company whose very existence depended on radium paint."
"No safety precautions were taken, and the women were even encouraged to lick their brushes to keep the tip pointed and prevent the paint from drying. By the end of the day, the women themselves would be glowing from the radioactive paint on their clothes and skin."
People had died from radium poisoning before the first radium girl even picked up her brush. The company ignored all the bad things that were said about radium, and told their workers that it was safe. Large amounts were recognized as harmful, but small quantities were said to invigorate the body and cure ailments. The dial painters were told that the paint was safe and that it would just pass through their digestive tract. But since radium's properties are similar to calcium it was incorporated into the bones, killing the tissues over time and affecting the blood. There were also men who worked at the factory. The men were told by the company that they needed to wear aprons, but the women, who were the ones ingesting the paint had no protection and weren't even told that the paint was harmful.
The First Symptoms
In the early 1920's the first girl started developing symptoms. Maggie's jaw was so brittle that her doctor removed it by just lifting it out of her mouth. Mollie died when she was 24 years old, and there were several causes of her death including ulcerative stomachitis and syphilis. The company agreed to investigate her death but the investigation was more focused on their business than the workers health.
The First Legal Suit
A newspaper article explaining what the doctor had to do to Amelia Maggia's jaw. [Fish Wrap, 2017]
The first legal suit against the USRC was filed in September 1925, but the company held all the trump cars so it was very hard to get justice. The issues were that there were a variety of girls symptoms, and they couldn't all be traced to one thing. Then since radium poisoning wasn't a thing it was not a compensable disease. And then there was money, most girls didn't have much and what they did have was going to doctors so there was nothing left for lawyers.