Working Conditions
Nearly 70 women were working in a factory in Orange, New Jersey, painting the numbers on watch dials using glow-in-the-dark paint. A mixture of glue, zinc sulfide, and radium caused it to glow.
These women had to painstakingly paint on the tiny numerals, being told by their supervisors to point the brushes with their tongues. They even painted it on themselves for fun, as the paint made their skin glow-in-the-dark.
These women had to painstakingly paint on the tiny numerals, being told by their supervisors to point the brushes with their tongues. They even painted it on themselves for fun, as the paint made their skin glow-in-the-dark.
“Our instructors told us to point them with our lips. I think I pointed mine with my lips about six times to every watch dial. It didn’t taste funny. It didn’t have any taste, and I didn’t know it was harmful.”
–Grace Fryer, victim, in an article for the Orange Daily Courier
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