Revision 1
March 19, 1998
by Radiation, Science, and Health, Inc.,
Edited by J. Muckerheide

1.2.4
Radium Body-Burden

References

"The radium isotopes, ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra, have induced in humans, at sufficiently high levels in the body, malignancies in the skeleton, primarily bone sarcomas. They have also induced, at approximately half the frequency, carcinomas arising in the paranasal sinuses and mastoid air cells. There is no evidence that any leukemias have been induced by internally deposited radium, nor any other solid cancers. However, some radium cohorts have shown elevated levels of breast cancer, while others have not. It has been suggested, at least for the dial painter population, that breast cancer may be the consequence of external radiation from the radium dial paint."

"It is appropriate to conclude with a quotation from the author’s preface to [Ed. his book on the radium studies] (Rowland 1994)."

"‘Given the number of people who acquired radium internally, it is remarkable how few suffered significant damage. To be sure, those who eventually developed radium-induced malignancies suffered severely. Those who acquired very large internal quantities of radium, as did many of the early dial painters, also suffered from what we today suspect were acute radiation doses leading to early deaths. However, the great majority of exposed individuals went through life with no recognizable consequences of their exposures. They lived as long as, and apparently in as good health as, their unexposed neighbors. This fact seems to have been little appreciated and seldom mentioned, but it may be the most important finding of the entire study.’"