List of Civilian Radiation Accidents - Before 1950s

Before 1950s

• Clarence Madison Dally (1865–1904) - No INES level - New Jersey - Overexposure of laboratory worker
• Various dates - No INES level - France - Overexposure of scientists
  • Marie Curie (1867–1934) was a Polish-French physicist and chemist. She was a pioneer in the early field of radioactivity, later becoming the first two-time Nobel laureate and the only person with Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry. Her death, at age 67, in 1934 was from aplastic anemia due to massive exposure to radiation in her work, much of which was carried out in a shed with no proper safety measures being taken, as the damaging effects of hard radiation were not generally understood at that time. She was known to carry test tubes full of radioactive isotopes in her pocket, and to store them in her desk drawer, resulting in massive exposure to radiation. She was known to remark on the pretty blue-green light the metals gave off in the dark. Because of their levels of radioactivity, her papers from the 1890s are considered too dangerous to handle. Even her cookbook is highly radioactive. They are kept in lead-lined boxes, and those who wish to consult them must wear protective clothing.
• Various dates - No INES level - various locations - Overexposure of workers
  • Luminescent radium was used to paint watches and other items that glowed. The most famous incident is the Radium girls of Orange, New Jersey where a large number of workers got radiation poisoning. Other towns including Ottawa, Illinois experienced contamination of homes and other structures and became Superfund cleanup sites.
• Various dates - No INES Level - Colorado, USA - Contamination
  • Radium mining and manufacturing left a number of streets in the state's capital and largest city of Denver contaminated.
• 1927–1930 - No INES Level - USA - Radium poisoning
  • Eben Byers ingests almosts 1400 bottles of Radithor, a radioactive patent medicine, leading to his death in 1932. He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in a lead-lined coffin.