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You are here: Home / Science / What Are the Harmful Effects of Radium and Why Is Radiation Considered a Health Hazard?

What Are the Harmful Effects of Radium and Why Is Radiation Considered a Health Hazard?

February 18, 2020 by Karen Hill

It was not until the 1920s that scientists became aware of the dangers of working with radioactivity.

Radioactive rays hold an incredible amount of fast-moving energy and easily penetrate human tissue.

Once inside the body, the rays damage or destroy cells at a rapid rate.

Radioactive substances can affect human bodies in different, unpredictable ways and from far away. Some people are affected more slowly than others.

Marie Curie spent the final 15 years of her life running the new Radium Institute in Paris.

The Institute researched medical uses of radiation, but by the 1920s several workers had died of cancer.

Curie refused to believe that the radiation caused the cancers and never investigated its health hazards.

She died in 1934 of leukemia at the age of 67, a disease almost certainly brought on by her years of exposure to radiation.

Related Facts

  • How did Marie Curie discover radium and Where did radium come from?
  • How Did Marie Curie Discover Radium and Polonium and What Does the Word Radium Mean In Latin?
  • Who Discovered Radioactivity and What two elements are naturally radioactive?
  • What Is Food Irradiation and Is Food Irradiation Safe?
  • What Were the Consequences of Marie Curie’s Discovery of Radium and Who Coined the Term Radioactivity?
  • Where Does Infrared Radiation Come From and How Can It Help Us See In the Dark?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Did the Unfinished Experiment of French Scientist Henri Becquerel Inspire Marie Curie to Discover Radium?
Next Post: How Did Marie Curie Discover Radium and Polonium and What Does the Word Radium Mean In Latin? »

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