The early 1900’s was home to a new and exciting product that promised health benefits, and could make things glow. That product was a radioactive element called radium. It was used in everything from household items to water. Manufacturer's we're adding “radium” to anything to make it sound better. Soon everyone realized that radium was not the magical substance they all thought it was. People went from buying everything with the word radium written on it, to thinking about all the horrific stories about the effects of the element.
The mid twentieth century was home to the radioactive product boom. Lots of companies were trying to hop onto the bandwagon to get ahead in this thriving industry. There were military watches and dials …show more content…
Eben Byers was a steel mogul, socialite, and the chairman of A.M Byers Steel Co. as well as a director of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing. He was a very rich man who felt that he should only drink the best of the best. A man named Mr. Bailey sold Byers bottles of what he called Radithor to Bryers, saying that it gave you a kick and infused your organs with energy, along with curing 150 maladies. He charged a dollar for every bottle which is equivalent to about thirteen dollars today. Every day Byers would consume three bottles of the distilled water and radium, slowly weakening himself with each gulp. This trend continued for four and a half years until he decided to quit in october of 1930. Unfortunately, the damage was already done after drinking nearly 1,400 bottles of Radithor. Byers lost weight, felt aches all over his body, and he teeth were beginning to fall out. This was all a result of the considerable amount of radium that he consumed, making his bone tissue disintegrate, and the lower part of his jaw had to be removed. Holes were starting to form in his skull soon before he died on March 31, 1932, only two years after he quit drinking Radithor. After such a high profile man such as Byers died from radium poisoning, regulators began to look more into the effects of radium. It was the beginning of the end for the radioactive patent medicine
The mid twentieth century was home to the radioactive product boom. Lots of companies were trying to hop onto the bandwagon to get ahead in this thriving industry. There were military watches and dials …show more content…
Eben Byers was a steel mogul, socialite, and the chairman of A.M Byers Steel Co. as well as a director of Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing. He was a very rich man who felt that he should only drink the best of the best. A man named Mr. Bailey sold Byers bottles of what he called Radithor to Bryers, saying that it gave you a kick and infused your organs with energy, along with curing 150 maladies. He charged a dollar for every bottle which is equivalent to about thirteen dollars today. Every day Byers would consume three bottles of the distilled water and radium, slowly weakening himself with each gulp. This trend continued for four and a half years until he decided to quit in october of 1930. Unfortunately, the damage was already done after drinking nearly 1,400 bottles of Radithor. Byers lost weight, felt aches all over his body, and he teeth were beginning to fall out. This was all a result of the considerable amount of radium that he consumed, making his bone tissue disintegrate, and the lower part of his jaw had to be removed. Holes were starting to form in his skull soon before he died on March 31, 1932, only two years after he quit drinking Radithor. After such a high profile man such as Byers died from radium poisoning, regulators began to look more into the effects of radium. It was the beginning of the end for the radioactive patent medicine