Some of the 226Ra is recovered for commercial use. Radium-226 is a byproduct of uranium mining, either left in ore that is leached with carbonate to recover the uranium or leached from the ore along with the uranium if sulfuric acid is used. The chemistry of radium is similar to calcium, magnesium, and strontium. The natural concentration of Ra in groundwater can vary widely, depending on the local concentration of uranium and thorium. The half-life of the radium isotopes are 1599 years for 226Ra and 5.76 years for 228Ra. Groundwater in the vicinity of these secondary deposits would contain high concentrations of 226Ra ( Cothem & Rebers, 1990). If reducing conditions are encountered, the uranium can precipitate, forming concentrated secondary deposits. Thorium is more abundant than uranium, so 228Ra is generally present in higher concentrations however, uranium complexes are soluble in water in oxidizing conditions and can move with the groundwater. Radium occurs naturally in very low concentrations from the decay of uranium and thorium, 226Ra from 238U and 228Ra from 232Th. Taylor, in Environmental Remediation and Restoration of Contaminated Nuclear and Norm Sites, 2015 10.5.3 Radium Even so, the company managed to stay in business until 1962.Physical, chemical, and biological treatment of groundwater at contaminated nuclear and NORM sites Their packaging stated that the products contained radium and thorium ( Fig. 6,7 Their laboratory formulated a range of cosmetics that included lipsticks, creams, powders, toothpastes, and brillantine. THO-RADIA, the best known manufacturer of the group, was founded in 1932 by Alexis Moussalli, a pharmacist, and Alfred Curie - a doctor who bore no relation to the discoverers of radium in spite of his name. Some of the cosmetics companies that used radioactive materials promised their formulations would afford a nearly miraculous “radiant” beauty, a claim supported with falsified data.Ĭompanies such as Tho-Radia, Radior, Artes, and Ramey were created around these products: This application was based on the supposed curative properties of radioactive elements and their purported ability to lend a luminescent quality to skin. The second story involves the use of radium in many products, but mainly cosmetics used during the 1930s. That these adverse events were caused by the radioactive material in radium paint was finally demonstrated only after considerable study. After about 5 years on average, some of the workers began to suffer nontraumatic bone fractures and highly aggressive sarcomas on various parts of their bodies. Luminescence was achieved by applying radium paint, but since workers would first lick the bristles of their brushes to point them, they absorbed small amounts of radium each time. The first story unfolded at the beginning of the century, when several companies began to manufacture watches with luminous dials that were highly useful for combatants in World War I. To that end, we recount two stories that reveal the consequences of societal ignorance of health threats coupled with an unscrupulous rush to profit from the use of radioactive elements in products sold in the first third of the 20th century. This article aims to illustrate the lack of understanding of radioactivity’s dangers in the early years. Modern societies seem to fully grasp the need for protection against the harmful effects of radiation, but that was not the case in the years immediately following the discoveries of Becquerel and the Curies. 1Īlthough radioactivity has led to great advances in medicine - in our own specialty alone, for example, it has enabled the treatment of certain skin cancers - adequate protection against rays must be provided if adverse effects are to be avoided. After Marie and Pierre Curie later discovered the first radioactive element, radium, all 3 received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. The first evidence of radioactivity was detected by Henri Becquerel.
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