Radioactive quackery
1649850
224902574
2008-07-10T22:38:15Z
Rama
84330
[[Image:Tho-Radia-IMG 1228.JPG|thumb|"Tho-radia powder, based on [[radium]] and [[thorium]], according to the formula of Dr Alfred Curie"...]]
'''Radioactive quackery''' refers to various products sold during the early 20th century, after the discovery of [[radioactivity]], which promised radioactivity as a cure for various ills. It is now well known that radioactivity can actually be harmful and cause various forms of cancer, among other things.
==Notable examples==
* [[Radithor]], a solution of [[radium]] [[salts]] claimed to have curative properties (the industrialist [[Eben Byers]] was poisoned by it)
* Many brands of [[toothpaste]] were laced with radium that was claimed to make teeth shine whiter
* Bath waters were advertised as being "highly radioactive"
* "Radioactive pens"
* [[Revigator]] pots, which added [[radon]] to drinking water
==See also==
* [[Electrical quackery]]
* [[Snake oil]]
* [[Quackery]]
* [[shoe-fitting fluoroscope]]s
==External links==
* [http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Files/LivingWithRadiation.html "Living with Radiation", book on the subject]
* [http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/quackcures/quackcures.htm Radioactive Quack Cures]
* [http://www.barbaragoldsmith.com/work1.htm Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie], by Barbara Goldsmith
* {{fr icon}} [http://monsite.wanadoo.fr/tho-radia/index.jhtml L’histoire étonnante du Tho-Radia], by Thierry Lefebvre and Cécile Raynal
[[Category:Radioactivity]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
{{Med-stub}}