The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab was one of many children’s chemistry sets that included radioactive materials, in this case four kinds of uranium. The Gilbert lab was recommended for “only boys with a great deal of education”, and was priced at $50.00, an astronomical sum in those days. The high price was the reason for the disappearance of these kits rather than the danger of the materials. You could buy less expensive kits for your youngster in the sixties, such as the Atomic Energy Lab which only had one kind of uranium, but also contained radium.
What could possibly make your smile brighter than radioactive toothpaste? A German firm called the Auer Company (Auergesellschaft) diverted thorium supplies from the Nazi atomic program in 1944 when it became clear that Germany would not win the war. The forward-thinking company saw the future of nuclear materials in cosmetics and developed Doramad radioactive toothpaste. Besides the usual wonderful benefits of radiation, the marketing mentioned that radiation would hinder bacteria in the mouth.
Yikes!
See more gems here.
The Pete Smith Specialty “Romance of Radium” also is worth looking at.
Bud
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls
People should know the horror behind those old radium face watches.
Also calm down with the corporate america crap, there still are, always were and always will be snake oil salesmen. Only now they call the snakeoil Air Bourne. Also might want to look into things like vitamin C and how totally useless it is for 99.9% of what people take it for. I see most of the BS these days coming from the anti-corporate crowd, vitamins, organic food, homeopathy, all of them non-corporate, non-mainstream counter culture bullshit.
#3. Pretty sure I had one of those watches as a kid.
Awesome, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wondered after smearing my face with radium “I wonder which cold creme is right for me”
Wow rider… could you be more of a blind idiot? You clearly have no idea what your talking about! Do you know what homeopathy is you moron? Homeopathy is cheap and even if it does have a placebo effect is harmless and has shown favourable results in trials. Also you would rather it the shit that is forced down our throats with its chemicals and pesticides rather than trying to eat organic? Vitamin C is helpful in many people who do not get enough in there daily intake which might not be everyone but it sure helps to boost the immune system. And your denying the effects which vitamins such as fish oil which can increase heart health? How about you shut up and take your little pills which the trustworthy doctor gives you instead of taking a step to conrol your own health! You sir, are a Fool!
look its radio active man and fallout boy!
#3 Also calm down with the corporate america crap, there still are, always were and always will be snake oil salesmen.
uhm… what a lot these wonderful corporate america types are selling you very dangerous stuff. we really need to get more hyper about it..
lets see what will be the next BIG discovery that is DANGEROUS??? cell phones? wi-fi? windows? hhhmmm…….
http://amazon.com/Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM
For anyone who needs to calibrate their Geiger counters at home.
Wow this thread brings out the loons. Defending homeopathy is so low it requires no response.
Your the loon… defending corporate america which has been screwing the health of the people for 50 years is idiotic.
Oh and far as cell phone and WIFI being dangerous yep that all a load bullshit to. It’s not a huge mystery what types of radiation cause cancer and health problems.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/cancer/facts/10-cancer-myths7.htm
Adam curry with his conspiracy bullshit is slowly
#10. Sorry but I’m with James on this one. There is nothing wrong with a common sense approach to natural remedies. Many (not all) docs are on the take…whether they recognize it or not. Lets not even get into the do-nothing FDA.
What people like Rider fail to realise is that these corporations used a substance known to cause health affects without caring for the people who were using them.
They used radioactive waste from world war 2 for the filthy profit, because it was easier and more profitable to hurt innocent people then properly dispose of it. This mentality has hardly changed today as we still eat genetically altered and chemical laden food.
The alternate medicine side however may have some detractors who are trying to sell some miracle cure which doesn’t actually do anything. The thing is that these placebo vitamins or whatever you want to call them do no harm and arent going to kill people in the future.
However most of the vitamins and supplements do have positive effects and you cannot deny that. Doctors and Corporate america do not have all the answers!
While everyone else is arguing about corporate vs counter culture, what is really sad is that thanks to our nanny state, kids who have a desire to explore chemistry, science and the like can no longer do it. You can’t buy a chemistry set anymore. Too dangerous according to the ‘experts’ and today you might be labeled a terrorist. Even the ATF tried to get the hobby of model rocketry shut down. So argue what you want. The truth is we no longer allow kids to explore science at home, and all of us are worse off for it.
Theres a difference between doctors being on the take, and blaming every wacky medical medical invention on corporate america. If we really want to get into it the FDA needs an overhaul and the laws preventing government from regulating the supplement industry also need an overhaul. The system is totally fucked at both ends.
The fact is though life expectancy is longer, cancer risks are lower and survival rates are way up. Health in general is light years ahead of where it would be without corporate backing.
Thanks McCullough,
Rider, How much has the life span increase got to do with adequate food, better surgical procedures and better living environments?
Im not denying western medicines place with surgical procedures and certain life saving drugs but there is alot that corporate america and doctors fail on and natural medicines help to complement that.
Unfortunately with this increase in life span so has an increase in cancer and other diseases. Imagine the life span of people if they weren’t being exposed to the crap in our food and radiation around us!
#18 read the link I already posted about cancer myths. Everything you just said about cancer is covered there and what you are saying is false.
#19. If you’re referring to Aspartame..then we agree.
But you probably think that’s a harmless chemical.
I’m waiting for the Global Warming Science Kit.
@21
ephedra is the first that comes to mind. I know there have been others since then.
If you start reading these harmless natural supplements that can not be regulated do very real things: “In addition, Xenadrine EFX also significantly increased blood pressure by 7 to 12 percent. Xenadrine EFX appears to have similar acute cardiovascular stimulant actions as banned ephedra products, according to their report.”
Basically whenever they are forced to take one legal form of speed off the market a new one takes it place.
What about Fen-Pfen..approved drug, or Chantix? I had a doctor once try to put me on Paxil because I was having trouble with my boss. When I asked him how long I should use it..he said “for the rest of your life”!
I dumped that jerk.
In my original post I was actually going to say for every Fen-Pfen there is an Ephedra.
Fen-Phen is one of those cases that occupies a special place. As far as I know there is no law law preventing off label use.
As I said Corporations are not totally innocent, but they are not totally to blame as the original rant that started this conversation suggests.
Rider the only way that homeopathy is dangerous is through misdiagnosis. Ha! there is even a case of an AIDS patient who died after not taking traditional AIDS Medicine…. people with AIDS die even with western medicine… When my aunt and grandmother had cancer there doctors each gave them six months.. a bell curve as to say where most people die… One went under traditional medicine and was in constant pain through all the operations and radiotherapy. My grandmother instead tried complementary medicine and ended up living longer then than my aunt… except she lived without as much pain! I think your very close minded and those websites are pretty biased!
James if your going to keep ignoring scientific studies I provide you with there is no point in continuing the conversation.
Those were not scientific studies, they were biased propaganda websites.
Really The American Cancer Society is a biased propaganda website?
Yeah sure I’m the loon.
http://cancer.org/downloads/STT/Cancer_Facts_and_Figures_2010.pdf
It even has pretty multicolored graphs, you don’t even need to take the time to or even know how to read. Just look and the pretty colored lines all going down.
I was talking about the homeopathy one not the cancer site… Most of the people would agreee that you are coming off as close-minded and unreasonable. i have no time for people who cant think for themselves.
#30: Here is a what a simple google search returned proving the opposite of what you claimed. Cancer is increasing and is set to increase in the future.
Seems to me that you need to check your facts:
http://who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2003/pr27/en/
http://wsws.org/articles/2003/apr2003/canc-a26.shtml
Uranium is weakly radioactive. It is an alpha emitter, which can’t even penetrate your skin. Even if you eat it, only about 0.5% is insoluble. The rest passes on through and out. You basically have to inhale it for it to be dangerous, where it passes directly into the bloodstream and then, because of its affinity for phosphate, is incorporated into your bones.
Radium, on the other hand, is a million times more intensely radioactive than uranium and it is an everything emitter. The beta and gamma radiation is dangerous even outside your body. But it is also an alkali metal, chemically almost identical to calcium, so however it finds its way into your body it is treated as calcium and goes where calcium goes — into the crystal structure of your bones and teeth.
So I guess the extra money paid for safety?