Mad on Radium by Rebecca Priestley

Author:Rebecca Priestley [Priestley, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Science
Publisher: Auckland University Press
Published: 2012-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE EVOLVING AWARENESS OF RADIATION RISKS

In the 1950s, New Zealanders became aware of the health risks posed by radioactive fallout from bomb testing, and the public began to be wary of the dangers posed, for example, by strontium contamination of milk. But this fear of radiation dangers from fallout was associated with the testing of nuclear bombs and did not usually extend to a fear or suspicion of nuclear power or nuclear science and medicine. Despite growing evidence of the dangers of all exposure to radiation, workers were happy to line up for a free x-ray to screen for tuberculosis, parents let their children’s feet be irradiated by pedascopes in shoe shops, radon-irradiated water continued to be offered for sale, and watchmakers hid their supplies of radioactive paint from authorities. By the end of the 1960s, however, public awareness had grown and demand for these potentially dangerous novelties waned at the same time as government imposed restrictions on their use. In hospitals, the non-prescriptive legislation was working: average recorded radiation exposure by medical staff, as recorded on film badges, declined steadily from 1954 to 1967.43

Concerns about fallout led to public action, which prompted the Government to be more open about fallout information. The National Radiation Laboratory — the public’s trusted source of advice and information on radiation issues — began publishing quarterly fallout statistics in the 1960s. But in other applications of nuclear science and medicine, it was not public demand but government officials responding to the latest scientific evidence or to international law that led to the implementation of more stringent regulations. The Department of Health took the lead in advising the medical profession and the public on safety measures, and had to take measures to control over-enthusiastic users of radioactive materials who chose to continue using them — radium-activated paint and radon-infused water — against medical advice.

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