this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2023
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[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 55 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Or anything radioactive. Turns out it was a bad idea to make radium-lined water coolers

[–] SgtAStrawberry@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago (2 children)

But whatt about radium dusted clothing, they have such a healthy glow too them./s

[–] Seasoned_Greetings@lemmy.world 43 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

Was listening to an American history podcast (the dollop) about the radium girls. They wore uranium infused lipstick because it glowed and they thought it was cute. They licked their fingers regularly to help apply uranium dust to things.

While their male supervisors were wearing full lead suits totally for no reason and let those girls do that.

Many of them lost their jaws. There was a suit filed that they won, but every single one of those girls died before they could collect the money.

The suit led to a law establishing workers' safety rights, so it wasn't all bad. But that law was definitely written in those girls' blood.

[–] stoneparchment@possumpat.io 39 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Wikipedia link to radium girls

I think you got the right idea but that description is missing the big points.

They were painting watches and their employers told them to use their lips to make fine points on the brushes, meaning they ingested a ton of the paint. The employers told them it was harmless despite evidence to the contrary. They chose not to use other options because wiping the brush on their lips increased productivity and they were paid per watch.

I don't think you meant to imply that they were doing it for trivial reasons, but I do think mentioning that they were doing it for a job and that their employers were intentionally deceiving them is important context!

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 10 months ago

Sure, but they did also paint their nails, teeth, and lips with it for fun, so person above isn’t entirely wrong about that either.

[–] Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

A decent amount of safety law was written in the blood or sweat of women. The origins of fire code come from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire which manufactured garments in New York which was staffed almost entirely by women.

Not to say a lot of safety law wasn't developed because of the deaths of men but a bunch of women dying all at once due to negligence does seem to be a decently galvanizing force for society which makes it easier to get a ball rolling and women, particularly widows and family members of victims , have always been important advocates and organizers in the fight for safety legislation.