Nuclear Chaos: The Early Days

Whenever I think of this topic, I always think of that scene in Jurassic Park where the chaotician says something along the lines of, “scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.” There are a lot of instances of this in the dawn of the nuclear age.

Nuclear Power

Of course the obvious point in this discussion would be the atomic bomb, and eventually the hydrogen bomb. We discovered the technology to create these weapons of mass destruction, and they were built, and the former were even used in combat. Eventually, the specter created by nuclear weapons hovered over society, instilling a constant fear of death and destruction in the form of the Cold War.

But this article isn’t about nuclear weapons. We will save those discussions for a later date. Today I want to talk about some other ways that atomic science was abused, much to the detriment of the populace.

People underestimate the power of ionizing radiation and the elements that produce it. Even the scientists who study radioactivity and radioactive substances have been deceived. Let’s look back toward the very beginning of the science.

Marie and Pierre Curie are some of the most famous nuclear scientists of the early days, and they frequently suffered radiation burns from their research. Marie died of aplastic anemia, likely brought on by chronic radiation exposure. Pierre died in an accident, but he likely would’ve eventually succumbed to a similar fate as his wife if he had lived.

Several scientists who worked on the Bomb and other nuclear research would eventually die of various forms of cancer. The most common appears to be stomach and kidney cancer, not counting those handful who died from radiation sickness.

When thinking of dangerous practices involving radioactive substances, we can’t ignore the misuse of radium. Radium is a radioactive element that, under certain conditions, has a mysterious green glow. Some people decided to use this feature to their advantage, and they began painting watch faces with radium.

Young women who would later be known as “radium girls” were hired to paint these watch faces by hand, and they were exposed to radiation from the radium paint. They had no protection from the dangerous substance. Worse, they were encouraged to tip the ends of their brushes with their lips, causing them to ingest copious amounts of radium.

This paint was considered harmless, but it was far from it. When ingested into the body, radium is mistaken for calcium and ends up in the bones. This leads to bone pain and, even worse, bone deterioration. This is especially true of the jawbone.

Jawbone deterioration was common among the radium girls. Several lost their jawbones completely after they disintegrated, sometimes by touch alone. The girls filed lawsuits concerning their working conditions and resulting health problems, and the concept of occupational disease was explored, but radium did not disappear from industry.

Around the time of the radium girls, the substance was thought to have health benefits, and it was included in products such as toothpaste, hemorrhoid cream, and cosmetics. Today, you can still find porcelain water jugs that contain radium or uranium, with the intent of irradiating drinking water for health purposes.

Perhaps the worst abuse of radium was Radithor, an “energy drink” that contained traces of radium. A sports figure named Eben Byers touted the wonders of this drink and drank it several times a day for years. He died of radium poisoning in the form of jawbone cancer in 1932. His body was reportedly so radioactive that he was buried in a lead-lined coffin. He was eventually dug up again for scientific research.

Though the radium trend was dying out, as scientists found evidence of associated health problems, some radium products were still sold around the world as late as the 1940s. A German company marketed a radium toothpaste during World War II. One of this site’s author’s mother had a crib with radium painted figures that would glow in the dark, which was built in 1946.

Radium eventually lost its popularity. However, you can still find antiques with radium paint, and even some containing uranium. There is a form of uranium glass that has a yellow tint, glowing green under a black light.

But radium isn’t the only case of nuclear misuse in our history. Starting in the 1920s and going as late as the 1970s, shoe stores around the world contained devices called x-ray fluoroscopes. When using this device, people would stick their feet into the bottom of the machine and look through a viewer on the top, while their feet were exposed to x-rays. This allowed customers to see the fit of their shoes, and it was detailed enough that viewers could see their toes wiggling inside their shoes. The devices were particularly used with children, who were constantly growing and changing shoe sizes.

There were major health concerns with the use of these machines. Some customers reported minor radiation burns in the form of reddening and flaking skin. Worse were the cumulative effects of the radiation exposure. Customers might try on multiple pairs of shoes in one session, or return several times a year, upping their x-ray exposure.

Not all the machines were well-constructed, causing varying amounts of radiation exposure. The less well-built ones meant that the radioactive material creating the x-rays was not well shielded. It would not just direct x-rays at the feet, it would scatter radiation everywhere.

No one really knows the long-term effects of the x-ray fluoroscope, as no one has conducted any research into the problem. However, the health concerns associated with the device led to its phasing out, starting in the 1970s.

There are many other cases of nuclear misuse that led to negative consequences, but those could fill a book. I am limited to this blog, so I have only provided some of the highlights.

I think it was Disney who had an animated movie discussing “our friend, the atom,” but that friend has a dark side. The movie described the atom as a genie. Most of the time it will give you what you want, but you should never abuse it or turn your back on it, because the atom is a tricky friend.

Today we have many important technologies that rely on the atom, including food sanitation, medicine, and energy production. However, there are harmful products of the atom as well, including nuclear weapons, pollution, and accidents.

Just be careful when you rub that lamp. You may not like what you get.