IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 498 
Honoring the lives and legacies of the ‘‘Radium Girls’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 24, 2021 
Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. NORCROSS, and 
Mr. KINZINGER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Education and Labor 
RESOLUTION 
Honoring the lives and legacies of the ‘‘Radium Girls’’. 
Whereas Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898, 
sparking a craze for radium-infused consumer goods in 
the early 20th century; 
Whereas many entrepreneurs touted radium’s supposedly lim-
itless curative properties, even as some scientists began 
to report serious health hazards associated with the ele-
ment; 
Whereas the ‘‘Radium Girls’’ were teenaged girls and young 
women who, starting in 1917, worked in United States 
factories painting watch dials and airplane instruments 
using glow-in-the-dark, radium-infused paint; 
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Whereas the early Radium Girls painted watches and instru-
ments that United States troops relied on during World 
War I; 
Whereas the majority of the Radium Girls worked for cor-
porations located in Orange, New Jersey, Ottawa, Illi-
nois, and Waterbury, Connecticut; 
Whereas the Radium Girls primarily came from working-class 
backgrounds and some were first- and second-generation 
Americans; 
Whereas, in several instances, the radium corporations’ lead-
ership knew that the element could be harmful to human 
health, but they did not inform the Radium Girls of the 
risks or implement basic safety standards; 
Whereas, in many cases, the radium corporations’ manage-
ment encouraged the Radium Girls to keep their paint-
brush tips moist and as fine as possible by putting the 
paint-covered brushes between their lips, a technique 
known as ‘‘lip-pointing’’; 
Whereas, due to lip-pointing, many of the early Radium Girls 
ingested extremely harmful quantities of radium; 
Whereas the Radium Girls breathed in radium-infused dust 
and touched radium-infused paint, and they often glowed 
by the end of the workday due to the radioactive paint 
on their clothes and skin; 
Whereas many of the Radium Girls began to experience mys-
terious health problems, including necrosis (rotting) of 
the jaw, cancer, anemia, bone fractures, and infertility; 
Whereas many of the Radium Girls were eventually plagued 
by debilitating physical pain and severe disabilities; 
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Whereas an unknown number of the approximately 4,000 Ra-
dium Girls died prematurely or experienced the dev-
astating health effects of radium poisoning; 
Whereas some physicians and dentists initially dismissed the 
Radium Girls’ hypothesis that their illnesses were linked 
to their occupations; 
Whereas, in some cases, the radium corporations conspired 
with members of the medical community to conceal the 
origins of the Radium Girls’ illnesses and smear their 
reputations; 
Whereas a number of the Radium Girls, in different States, 
fought to secure justice for themselves, their families, and 
their colleagues by suing the radium corporations; 
Whereas the Radium Girls’ difficult and prolonged legal bat-
tles and often horrific medical conditions drew national 
attention; 
Whereas some of the Radium Girls who challenged the ra-
dium corporations were shunned by their communities for 
harming the reputation of a prominent local employer; 
Whereas many of the surviving Radium Girls volunteered to 
participate in scientific studies on the effects of radium 
on the human body; 
Whereas investigations of the Radium Girls’ illnesses led to 
the creation of the new scientific field of human 
radiobiology; 
Whereas the Federal Government relied on data from the Ra-
dium Girls’ cases to develop safety standards for radium 
and other radioactive materials for factory workers, med-
ical personnel, and scientists, including the workers and 
scientists of the Manhattan Project; 
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Whereas some of the Radium Girls and their families received 
either no compensation or only meager compensation re-
lated to their harmful exposure to radium and their con-
tributions to science; 
Whereas the Radium Girls’ highly publicized case was among 
the first in which the courts held an employer responsible 
for the safety and health of its workers; 
Whereas the Radium Girls’ struggle for justice was a turning 
point in the movement to protect workers’ safety and ul-
timately spurred Congress to enact critical occupational 
health reforms; and 
Whereas many workers in the United States today are still 
fighting for a safe and equitable workplace: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) honors the Radium Girls and their deter-
mination to seek justice in the face of overwhelming 
obstacles; 
(2) recognizes the invaluable contributions of 
the Radium Girls to developing modern workplace 
safety laws and standards; and 
(3) reaffirms the commitment of the Federal 
Government to protecting the health and safety of 
all workers in the United States. 
Æ 
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