[ RadSafe ] Dose to Mae Keane may be kilorads!

Wed Jun 14 11:29:47 CDT 2006

Dr Parthasarathy et al

Two (now) old references I have on my shelf are

Delayed effects of bone seeking radionuclides, edited by C. W. Mays and
others. University of Utah Press, 1969. LCCC# 77-86230

and

Health Effects of Internally Deposited Radionuclides- Emphasis on Radium and
Thorium. World Scientific Publishing, 1995. ISBN 981-02-2015-4

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John R Johnson, Ph.D.
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-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl]On
Behalf Of parthasarathy k s
Sent: June 14, 2006 9:07 AM
To: John Jacobus; Susan Gawarecki; RADSAFE
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Dose to Mae Keane may be kilorads!

Prof R D Evans published a review of the doses to those who had significant
intakes of radium as dial painters (I can locate the paper; it was in the
Health Physics journal). The doses were of the order of hundreds of rads
that too contributed  by alpha particles from the decay products of radium;a
few must have received kilorads! The poineering work done in USA by two
groups in Argonne and Massachusettes laid the foundation stone for internal
dosimetry of bone seeking radionuclides such as Strontium-90, plutonium-239
etc.

The work is often projected to indicate evidence against LNT concept.

Can any one in the list provide more about the human side of the tragic
experience of those who suffered radium poisoning. It appears that the first
victim sued the employer, got compensation; most of it went to the
lawyers.(It was probably the first case of this kind).

I am keen to get details about how many victims were part of the internal
contamination study which went on  for decades. Can any one provide
appropriate references?

Regards
K.S.Parthasarathy Ph.D
Raja Ramanna Fellow
Strategic Planning Group
Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences
Department of Atomic Energy
GN 18, Vikram Sarabhai Bhavan
Mumbai 400094, INDIA

91+22 25555327 (O)
91+22 2 5486081(O)
91+22 2 7706048(R)
9869016206 ( Mobile)

----- Original Message ----
From: John Jacobus <crispy_bird at yahoo.com>
To: Susan Gawarecki <loc at icx.net>; RADSAFE <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Sent: Wednesday, 14 June, 2006 6:30:06 PM
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Last surviving Radium Girl celebrates 100th
birthday

Interesting.  I see no information on dosage, which
makes this just an interesting story.

--- Susan Gawarecki <loc at icx.net> wrote:

> Last surviving Radium Girl celebrates 100th birthday
>
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/06/01/last_surviv
ing_radium_girl_celebrates_100th_birthday/
> By Robyn Adams, Republican-American  |  June 1, 2006
>
> WATERBURY, Conn. --Mae Keane, the last surviving
> Radium Girl, was all
> aglow as she celebrated her 100th birthday recently.
>
> At age 18, fresh out of Wilby High School, she went
> to work at the old
> Waterbury Clock Co. factory off Cherry Street. She
> was among the women
> dubbed the Radium Girls after the greenish radium
> paint used to make the
> watch dials glow in the dark. It later caused
> significant health
> problems for many. They were encouraged to apply the
> paint by moistening
> the bristles on their lips before dipping the brush
> into the paint.
>
> Though Keane worked at the clock factory just a
> couple of months, she
> lost her teeth and suffered skin and eye problems.
> Doctors could never
> pinpoint the exact cause of her ailments. "I don't
> think the bosses even
> knew it was poison," she said. "The foreman would
> tell us it was very
> expensive, and to be careful. We had no idea. But
> when they did find
> out, they hid it."
>
> Radium is a naturally occurring radioactive material
> used from the 1900s
> to the 1940s to paint glow-in-the-dark dials on
> clocks, watches and
> aircraft navigation equipment. Significant exposure
> can cause leukemia
> and anemia and has been linked to cancer of the
> bones, mouth and sinus
> cavities.
>
> About 20 Waterbury Clock factory workers, mostly
> women hired because of
> their smaller fingers, died from exposure to radium
> in 1927.
>
> "The girls (sneaked) the radium to paint their toe
> nails to make them
> glow," Keane said.
>
> Perhaps it is her sense of humor that has helped her
> live a long life.
> The only prescription medication she takes is to
> control her blood
> pressure, though she was diagnosed with colon cancer
> at one point. "The
> doctor wanted to give me chemotherapy," Keane said.
> "I told him 'no.' I
> wanted radium." After five weeks of radiation, she
> was on the mend.
>
> Keane isn't quite sure what led her to work at the
> clock factory. The
> pay was $18 a week for a 40-hour work week, and the
> women earned an
> average of six cents for each dial painted.
>
> In 2004, Keane and the late Josephine Lamb, another
> Radium Girl, were
> featured in a dance and video production that
> explored the work done by
> young women in clock factories. Josephine Lamb was
> bedridden for 50
> years from the radium poisoning. She died in 1974 at
> the age of 79.
>
> Keane, a Red Sox fan, laughs when asked about her
> secret to longevity.
> "I'm lazy," Keane said, adding she never smoked,
> loved to walk and
> dance, and enjoys caramel candy, chocolate and an
> occasional apricot
> sour or Bailey's Irish Cream. "I didn't get old
> until I was 98," she said.
>
>
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+++++++++++++++++++
"You get a lot more authority when the workforce doesn't think it's amateur
hour on the top floor."
GEN. MICHAEL V. HAYDEN, President Bush's nominee for C.I.A. director.

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com

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