[ RadSafe ] Dose to Mae Keane may be kilorads!

Wed Jun 14 12:59:47 CDT 2006

Evans' paper responded to misrepresentations of effects in BEIR 1972 in
the 1974 HPJ. See e.g., the first item at:
http://www.radscihealth.org/RSH/Data_Docs/1-2/4/1/1241list.html 

Note that Evans' paper only includes the MIT epidemiologically
significant data (about 300 cases?)

I meant to mention also that Rowland's book is available as a PDF as
ref'd in Rowland's summary.

Regards, Jim Muckerheide

> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl 
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On Behalf Of parthasarathy k s
> Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 12:07 PM
> 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_surviving_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.
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing
> > list
> > 
> > Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have
> > read and understood the RadSafe rules. These can be
> > found at: http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html
> > 
> > For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe
> > and other settings visit: http://radlab.nl/radsafe/
> > 
> 
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++
> "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
> 
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
> http://mail.yahoo.com 
> _______________________________________________
> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
> 
> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and 
> understood the RadSafe rules. These can be found at: 
> http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html
> 
> For information 
> on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings visit: 
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list

Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
http://radlab.nl/radsafe/radsaferules.html

For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
visit: http://radlab.nl/radsafe/