Radium: from Wonder Drug to Hazard (the New York Times Oct 4, 1987)

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I Radium: From WonderI Drug t o Hazard consldercd a wonder &g when the Radhrm Chemlul Company was fwnded'in N e w York In 1913. It was handled ushly ; druggisu mld it u an elixir for everylhing from arthrltt, and hlgh blood pressure to de pm rio and Impotence. But radium's most widespread w%as for luminour pint It was used on everything from rat ch dhl r md instrument pamls to theater-rut mmkrs, eyes for dolls and wen fishing luru It WAS not until the early 102Q'r, after the lint cancer deaths of watchdi.1 painLen A t the Unlted Sutes ul authonbes began to that radlum, tn even the most minute amcunts, was extremely dangerous and long-lasung. Workers had been Instructed to twirl their paint brushes In thelr mouths to Bet a fine p o I n ~ that thelr graves rtlll cause Geigercounter needles to 'nized early in the fcntury. A technique was developed W e gas given off by radium - were used to kill a n - ccr cells. Radium Chemical d other companies leased the needles to hor pil ~ l sand shipped them all over thc cwntry. T h e needles were also used In the oil * last #) yean, as safer techniques Involving cobalt and m l u m were developed. the medical w of radium dropped sharply. However, some physicians still U K radium. despite criticism that it is an outmoded and risky practice. Some veterinarians a r e .dso said to use radium n w l e s to treat lame raceindustry to &an geological strata. Mr. Kelly, a ucremry; I &haget and Despite its record. Radlum CYwmlal has LO far sucessfully fended off four years of efforts by i t s Licensing agent, rhe State hbor DcpanmenL to force It Merges of the Department of Environmental Conservation. "The company has Indicated that the radium is a valuable matenal and that they plan to conUnue to operaie a buslness. Our p i - product that needs to k disposed of though police and fir+ officials w y they are ready to handle any emergency at the plant, Investigators s a y they a r e not completely mvind that emergency crews could prevent the spread of radium hno the environment The investigators md others said they wen also worried about the psi - bllity of theft or sabolage. "I have expressed concern in the past that the se curity a t this facility should be equlva. knt to that of a nuclear power.plmt," SIZIIC officials estimaie that there IS as much as 140 curies d radium, a uantity that expens rey ICM extraorr t ~ t emaximum of IO0 curis. A ark Is the rtandard gauge for radium, which rather than volume. a.m anly large md well In exma of the The actual weight of the radtum br much less than an am=.But radiation kvels in the vault am, where thc radium Is stored,are cum ntl y XI high thata worker mvld rcrnatn there for only 2.3 hours before udlng the yearly permissible dose. The radium Is In the form of diuolved ulu rukd in; cording to estimates. ' fhe Labor Department's dlvtrlon of health and safety first ordered the company to shut down and lave the Queens slte on May 19, 1B83, after inr pec to ~found numerous safety viola. tions. But the w mp any llled a ~ r k sof appeals and finally, In 1886. napplied to the Labor Department to regain its op rating license. In September 1986, Inspectors gave the factory a clean bill. certifying that the violations first detected in 1983 had & e n corrected. But in a flnal #des of Inspections last June 2 and Jum 18, oftlons and rcjected the application. In ak tter dated Aug. 17, the cute nett. Informed Radium Clemlcal's axlnsel that his clknt's application for a MW license to sell radium had ken denied kcaw neirher Radium Chemi. al "nor its prsonml is quallfled to use minimhe danger (herefrom to we, Commissioner Ham ett dted Illegal buildups of radon, arr d hcl l ve gas emltted by radlum, which Inspectors rald had reached levels In the Woodaide bullding marly men tlmu the cute limit; dlxmtinuatlon al the a m - ice, resulting In unmonlmrtd urporure of employees, and nvipt of at last 30 dl pm ents of radlum to the building. Thc shipments were a violatlon of h e der that Radium Chemlcal "permatbns Involving the l rw fer and r axl pt fhe commluloner 0rdet-A Radtum Chemical to mmovc all tmcel of radium from the Queens site by last Friday. But a department spokesman ruks, the company could wait until OCL 16 to file an appeal. The spokestake a lnother month. A sea md dud line, tomorrow. has k e n set by Ihe Labor Department for the company to reduce gamma radiatkn frqm the Qusens site to the permis. sible limits or below. Officials said they expected the company to adhere to the order, which they said could be me1 by adding lead shielding, bricking up windows and moving the radium stocks tc different positions. State envirunrnental officials have also directed the corn. pany to prepare a complete evaluatron of any radon discharges, a s well a s an inventory of its radium stocks. But investigators said they belie\'ed the situation required tougher meas urns. They told Mayor Koch in a letter last month that the company may be on the verge of declaring bankruptcy in New York to escape liability for cleanIng up the factory. And State Laws "In view of past history." the letter said, "there is every Indication lhat the plant and its contents will be aban. doned. as Is, by the present owners/ Assemblyman Hinchey said the state and city authorities' failure to force the quacies of state law, which he said "divides responsibilities under state agenFies in a way that works against cffec. rion. which regulates synthesized subrun ces, does not have direct jurisdiction over Radium Chemical because radium is a natural substance. Stale experts have estimated that, apart from the difficulty of finding a waste site wllling to accept the radium. 11 would cost as much a s $6 mlllton to decontaminate the Queens building. But state and city officials say that because there are manv sealed sources of radium rather than one large unsealed source, they do not belleve that the cont.m\n,ation of the rite will k found to be as serious as I t was at the Illinois nnd Georgia factories. when particles of radium were widely scatted. '