In the 1920s, working at the U.S. Radium Corporation was a privilege. Hundreds of young women were hired to paint watch dials with radium-luminous paint, used to make them glow in the dark. The job paid well, and the women, dubbed "Ghost girls" were told the paint was harmless.

To get fine brush strokes, they were instructed to "lip-point" their brushes , licking the bristles to sharpen them between strokes. Some even painted their nails and teeth for fun, glowing faintly in the dark like living nightlights.

Within years, the women began suffering gruesome symptoms. Their jaws literally disintegrated (radium jaw) bone tissue necrotized, leading to horrific abscesses and spontaneous fractures. Spines collapsed, leaving some hunched like question marks. Leg bones splintered under their own weight. Anemia, tumors, and sepsis ravaged their bodies.

Doctors were baffled. By the time they linked it to radium, many women were already walking corpses. U.S. Radium knew. Their own scientists wore lead aprons and handled radium with tongs, but let the women lick it daily. Doctors were bribed to blame the women's illnesses on syphilis (to ruin their reputations). When workers began dying, the company hired a fake expert to testify radium was safe.


Five dying workers, Grace Fryer, Katherine Schaub, Edna Hussman, Quinta McDonald, and Albina Larice sued in 1927. Their bones were so radioactive, they lit up X-ray films in dark rooms. Their court testimonies were whispered, some couldn't sit upright as their spines crumbled. They won , bur most died within years. Their case set the foundation for U.S. labor laws (OSHA) and workers' rights.

Their bodies are still radioactive. Exhumed graves require hazmat handling. Radium dials still exist. Antique collectors risk exposure. They saved countless lives. Their suffering led to industrial safety standards still used today.