In 1949, Congress passed a bill making occupational diseases like those suffered by dial painters compensable and considerably extended the federal statute of limitations for employees to file claims.
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At 1:20:47 · chapter starts 1:10:50
The legal and legislative impact of the Radium Girls was enormous. In Illinois, Catherine Donahue and other painters' successful lawsuit against Radium Dial led directly to the Occupational Disease Act; New Jersey rewrote occupational safety standards; and in 1949, Congress passed a law making occupational diseases compensable and extending the federal statute of limitations [1] — Alaina Urquhart "1949 Congress passed occupational disease bill: In 1949, Congress passed a bill making occupational diseases like those suffered by dial pa…" 1:20:47 . Factory sites in Orange, New Jersey and Ottawa, Illinois were eventually declared EPA Superfund sites, with radioactive contamination seeping into groundwater [2] — Alaina Urquhart "Radium paint on factory land declared Superfund sites: Decades after the factories closed, large sections of land in Orange, New Jersey and…" 1:23:30 . The companies responsible were never truly held accountable — but the women's sacrifice saved countless future workers. The last surviving dial painter reportedly lived until around 2014. In the summer of 2021, senators from New Jersey, Connecticut, and Illinois introduced a resolution to formally recognize the Radium Girls' sacrifice — a century after they first began to get sick. Senator Richard Blumenthal's statement closes the episode: 'The Radium Girls' effort to hold corporations accountable for their callous, uncaring treatment of their employees paved the way for future workplace safety standards, saving the lives of countless others.'
The Radium Girls' legal fight directly led to the Illinois Occupational Disease Act, new New Jersey safety standards, and a 1949 federal law making occupational disease compensable. Radium paint was still used until the 1960s. In 2021 — nearly 100 years later — senators from three states finally introduced a bill to formally recognize their sacrifice.
Despite everything learned about radium's dangers in the 1920s and 30s, radium paint was still used in manufacturing as late as the 1960s.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection estimates approximately 4,000 women around the country worked as dial painters over several decades.
Decades after the radium factories closed, sites in Orange, New Jersey and Ottawa, Illinois were declared EPA Superfund sites. Radioactive toxins from the plants seeped into groundwater, continuing to expose local residents to cancer risk long after the companies had moved on. The number of people killed by radium paint is still unknown.
Decades after the factories closed, large sections of land in Orange, New Jersey and Ottawa, Illinois where radium plants operated were declared EPA Superfund sites, with toxins seeping into groundwater.
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