Editing Radium (section)

====Medical and research uses====
Radium (usually in the form of [[radium chloride]] or radium bromide) was used in [[medicine]] to produce radon gas, which in turn was used as a [[cancer]] treatment.<ref name=brit/> Several of these radon sources were used in Canada in the 1920s and 1930s.<ref>
{{cite book
 |first = Charles | last = Hayter
 |year = 2005
 |chapter = The politics of radon therapy in the 1930s
 |title = An Element of Hope: Radium and the response to cancer in Canada, 1900–1940
 |publisher = McGill-Queen's Press
 |isbn = 978-0-7735-2869-7
 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NtKUdnjaCxMC&pg=PA135
 |via=Google Books
}}
</ref> However, many treatments that were used in the early 1900s are not used anymore because of the harmful effects radium bromide exposure caused. Some examples of these effects are [[anaemia]], cancer, and [[mutation|genetic mutations]].<ref name=Harvie>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/S0160-9327(99)01201-6| pmid = 10589294| title = The radium century| journal = Endeavour| volume = 23| issue = 3| pages = 100–105|year = 1999| last1 = Harvie| first1 = David I.}}</ref> As of 2011, safer gamma emitters such as [[cobalt-60|{{sup|60}}Co]], which is less costly and available in larger quantities, were usually used to replace the historical use of radium in this application,{{sfn|Keller|Wolf|Shani|2011|pages=97–98}} but factors including increasing costs of cobalt and risks of keeping radioactive sources on site have led to an increase in the use of [[linear particle accelerator]]s for the same applications.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://amos3.aapm.org/abstracts/pdf/166-58831-15631646-171798-1721147678.pdf |title=A RETROSPECTIVE OF COBALT-60 RADIATION THERAPY: "THE ATOM BOMB THAT SAVES LIVES" |journal=Medical Physics International |last1=Van Dyk |first1=J. |first2=J. J. |last2=Battista |last3=Almond |first3=P. R. |date=2020}}</ref>

In the U.S., from 1940 through the 1960s, radium was used in [[Pharynx|nasopharyngeal]] radium irradiation, a treatment that was administered to children to treat [[hearing loss]] and chronic [[otitis]]. The procedure was also administered to [[Airman|airmen]] and [[submarine]] crew to treat [[barotrauma]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ronckers |first1=Cécile M |last2=Land |first2=Charles E |last3=Hayes |first3=Richard B |last4=Verduijn |first4=Pieter G |last5=Stovall |first5=Marilyn |last6=van Leeuwen |first6=Flora E |date=December 2002 |title=Late Health Effects of Childhood Nasopharyngeal Radium Irradiation: Nonmelanoma Skin Cancers, Benign Tumors, and Hormonal Disorders |url=https://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1203/00006450-200212000-00007 |journal=Pediatric Research |volume=52 |issue=6 |pages=850–858 |doi=10.1203/00006450-200212000-00007 |pmid=12438660 |issn=0031-3998}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=CDC |date=2024-02-20 |title=Facts About Nasopharyngeal Radium Irradiation (NRI) |url=https://www.cdc.gov/radiation-health/data-research/facts-stats/nasopharyngeal-radium-irradiation.html |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Radiation and Your Health |language=en-us}}</ref>

Early in the 1900s, biologists used radium to induce mutations and study [[genetics]]. As early as 1904, Daniel MacDougal used radium in an attempt to determine whether it could provoke sudden large mutations and cause major evolutionary shifts. [[Thomas Hunt Morgan]] used radium to induce changes resulting in white-eyed fruit flies. Nobel-winning biologist [[Hermann Joseph Muller|Hermann Muller]] briefly studied the effects of radium on fruit fly mutations before turning to more affordable x-ray experiments.<ref name="Hamilton">{{cite journal |last1=Hamilton |first1=Vivien |date=2016 |title=The Secrets of Life: Historian Luis Campos resurrects radium's role in early genetics research |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/the-secrets-of-life |url-status=live |journal=Distillations |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=44–45 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323154857/https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/the-secrets-of-life |archive-date=23 March 2018 |access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref>