Summary and conclusions of the conference on medical uses of radium and radium substitutes.

Abstract

As far as can be determined, the first organized study by the Public Health Service on radiation effects in man dealt specifically with radium effects.L Since this was in 1922, our concem with this source of ionizing radiation now has a history exceeding 40 years. No doubt, to some of our younger colleagues, this may appear to rival the half-life of radium itself. Thus it would seem appropriate that a review of the current situation begin with a very brief backward look at some of the earlier endeavors to cope with this hazard. Active interest of the Public Health Service in radium dates back to the aforementioned 1922 study. This was a most significant study on the physical condition of radium workers within the Bureau of Standards which then measured practically all the radium sold for medical and scientific purposes by manufacturers and commercial firms in the United States. Some of its recommendations have a current flavor. For example, one recommendation was that in handling radium, the greatest possible use should be made of protective devices such as screens, lead-lined carrier boxes, and handling forceps. Another mentions that rooms in which radium is handled should be thoroughly ventilated. The published report on this study also contains one of the early references to the use of film badges in determining the exposure of an individual to radiation. The literature provides other evidence of the long-standing interest of the Public Health Service in radium. A 1933 paper that addressed itself to the economic background of radium attempted to account for the total amount in use in the United States,2 an objective that to this day has never been satisfactorily accomplished, due largely to the lack of regulation and registration procedures. Another publication appeared in 1941 as a report of findings in a survey of radiation protection in hospitals.3 This study pointed to instances of needless exposure and called attention to the necessity for training personnel in the careful handling and proper storage of radium sources. In those early days a number of local and state health departments, along with hospitals, medical schools, professional societies, and many physicians in private practice, were also conscious of the hazards as well as the benefits of radium. There was, however, no real concerted attempt to marshal these various groups and to mount a united attack on the health problem of radium. What we had was guerrilla warfare that could