Marie Curie

[FRAMEP@ORAU.GOV]

Some history:

Buried at the end of a long summary from Jim Muckerheide of what
appeared to be a 1954 preliminary study on animals were some comments
about Marie Curie that I would like to comment on.

>What about Eve Curie's 1938 biography of her mother describing her 4
>years, starting in her early 20's (1898), in the shed separating
>grams of radium from tons of uranium ore slag, with the wonderful 

Several errors of fact here. First, it was a 1937 biography.  Marie
was born in 1867, she would have been at least 30 by 1898, not in her
early 20s. From Eve's biography's chapter entitled "Four Years in a
Shed" p 175 (1938 printing): "In 1902, forty-five months after
....she suceeded in preparing a decigram of pure radium" The
reference is to a decigram, not "grams". 

>And then listen to anti's foster public fear using Marie Curie as a
>"radiation victim", as she died of presumed perniscious aplastic
>anemia in another 16 years, in 1934 at age 66. 

Is there is any doubt her death was radiation-related? Its worth
noting that her daughter Eve, who didn't work with radiation, is
still alive and in her 90's while Maries other daughter Irene, who
did work with radioactivity, died in her 50's of leukemia. 
Throughout their lives Marie, Pierre and Irene lived in a state of
continuous ill health. It was so constant that she was routinely
accused of using her ill health as an tactic to get her way in
scientific meetings and discussions. Marie incessantly rubbed her
fingers because of the radiation damage to them, she had cataracts,
she routinely had her blood analyzed, was almost constantly fatigued
and made numerous visits to a santorium to regain her strength. 
Furthermore there were several deaths in her laboratory ca 1920 from
what I believe was the same type of "presumed aplastic anemia"
Ironically, one of these (Cotelle), a woman, was Polish like Marie. 

Paul Frame
Professional Training Programs
ORISE
framep@orau.gov