Fw: [ RadSafe ] Dose to Mae Keane -Way to narrow down exposure -Addendum

Fri Jun 16 11:48:50 CDT 2006

Hello again,

BTW, regarding sleuthing to determine Mae Keane's dose, the news article 
mentioned she only worked at the dial painting plant for a "couple of 
months".

The Table A.1 from Rowland's book Radium in Humans  mentioned with the 1,575 
dial painter cases includes a column of data on Exposure Duration [weeks], 
in addition to year of birth, sex, and year first exposed as I mentioned 
previously.  These 4 factors really narrow down what cases [by anonymous 
Case Number] match Mae Keane's circumstances to only a handful of cases if 
one is willing to scan the 98 page Table A.1. It's not as daunting as it 
sounds since only a small fraction were still alive in 1990 that were born 
in 1905- 1906. Then scan to see if the case was first exposed in 1923- 1924. 
The see if the Exposure Duration is around 8 weeks or so.

The above cut factors should narrow down the possible cases to a handful of 
possibilities. It would be interesting to get some ideal of her total dose.

Good luck & let us know what you find,

Stewart Farber, MSPH
radproject at aol.com

=====================
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stewart Farber" <farbersa at optonline.net>
To: "Muckerheide, Jim (CDA)" <Jim.Muckerheide at state.ma.us>; "parthasarathy k 
s" <ksparth at yahoo.co.uk>; "John Jacobus" <crispy_bird at yahoo.com>; "Susan 
Gawarecki" <loc at icx.net>; "RADSAFE" <radsafe at radlab.nl>
Cc: "Stewart Farber" <radproject at optonline.net>
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2006 12:15 PM
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Dose to Mae Keane -Way to narrow down exposure

> Hi all,
>
> The initial article in this thread appears to be in error. Also it may be 
> possible to determine what the dose to this person is from radium intake.
>
> First, it seems highly unlikely that Mae Keane is the last surviving 
> "Radium Girl". She may be the oldest at this moment, but many of the 2,403 
> individuals listed in the Appendix to Radium in Humans: A Review of US 
> Stuties by Rowland [ANL/ER-3, published Sept. 1994] were born in the 1930s 
> and 1940s. So while Mae Keane may be the oldest [and God bless her for 
> good genes and a good attitude contributing to her longevity], she is not 
> likely the last dial painter alive.
>
> There are 1,575 dial painters in the Argonne Table A-1 list. For example 
> Case 12-646 was born in 1946, was alive in 1987, was first exposed in 
> 1965, and exposed as a Dial Painter for 260 weeks. Is she still alive?  No 
> way to tell from the Tables but very like based on her age. Another dial 
> painter listed [Case 12-669] was born in 1957, and first exposed in 1974 
> for 22 weeks!  Where this was done, I have no idea. Go figure.
>
> For those on the list who want to be amateur radiation 
> dose/epidemiological sleuths, it is possible to scan Table A.1 of the 
> referenced Appendix. From the sex of the individual, date of birth, 
> whether they were alive in 1990 [the date the book was published], their 
> year of first exposure it should be possible to find or at least narrow 
> down the exposure data for Mae Keane.
>
> She was born in 1905 or 1906 [since she is 100 now] and from what she said 
> went to work painting dials at age 18 [in 1923 or 1924]. Since she was 
> alive in 1990, only a few cases in the list of exposed women will match 
> her age, and date of first exposure. From this review, it should be 
> possible to bracket her radium intake, Ra-226/Rad-228 ratio, and tabulated 
> dose from Ra-226 and 228.
>
> A project for a motivated Radsafer! Good luck and let us know what you 
> find!
>
> Stewart Farber, MS Public Health
> 203 367-0791
> radproject at aol.com
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Muckerheide, Jim (CDA)" <Jim.Muckerheide at state.ma.us>
> To: "parthasarathy k s" <ksparth at yahoo.co.uk>; "John Jacobus" 
> <crispy_bird at yahoo.com>; "Susan Gawarecki" <loc at icx.net>; "RADSAFE" 
> <radsafe at radlab.nl>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 1:59 PM
> Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] Dose to Mae Keane may be kilorads!
>
>
>> 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.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
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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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