Although Curie certainly possessed those qualities, she was also among the first to establish radiation protection measures in the lab and to raise concerns about the use of radium in medicine by unqualified people.īy the late 1920s major radiological societies in the US were growing concerned about the effects of radiation exposures. In short, the mythical profile of the two-time winner of the Nobel Prize has been built on a foundation of selflessness and altruism. The story goes that she failed to take precautions while working in the laboratory because she was a devoted scientist who was concerned about others but not herself. Many of us are familiar with Curie’s radiation-induced health problems and the narrative that they resulted from her neglect, or at least her ignorance, of the risks. Her fingers were severely burned from carelessly handling radioactive materials with her bare hands as she prepared secondary radium standards. She had already suffered from double cataracts and had gone through four operations to restore her eyesight. Curie’s text focused on, as the New York Times put it, the “perils in radium” despite its use as a cancer treatment.īy the time of her visit, Curie knew all too well about those perils. Mead, a member of the society’s finance committee, read her speech, which was broadcast nationally on radio. Feeling ill throughout most of her trip, she was able only to thank the audience of physicians. In her only public appearance in the city, she was scheduled as the guest of honor to address the third annual dinner of the American Society for the Control of Cancer. On 1 November 1929, Marie Curie spent her evening at the Plaza Hotel in New York.

Credit: Radium Institute, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives

Radium poisoning