Setting Radiation Protection Standards: The First Radiology Congress in 1925

Abstract

In 1925, the first International Congress of Radiology took place in London. This Congress brought together almost 500 experts from across the world. For many of the oversees participants, this was a long, difficult, and expensive journey, but the effort paid off. Concerned over the dangers of medical treatment with radium and x-rays, especially for the medical doctors administrating it, and the lack of proper standardization, the Congress gathered to solve these pressing issues. The international and scientific environment of the Congress promised that these issues could be solved, and that an international radiation standard would be settled upon. However, in the international and scientific arena of the Congress, many of the originators of radiation research like Maria Curie and the Vienne Radium Institute were left out, as new scientific centres came to prominence.