Editing X-ray (section)

===Hazards discovered===
With the widespread experimentation with X‑rays after their discovery in [[1895 in science|1895]] by scientists, physicians, and inventors came many stories of burns, hair loss, and worse in technical journals of the time. In February 1896, Professor John Daniel and [[William Lofland Dudley]] of [[Vanderbilt University]] reported hair loss after Dudley was X-rayed. A child who had been shot in the head was brought to the Vanderbilt laboratory in 1896. Before trying to find the bullet, an experiment was attempted, for which Dudley "with his characteristic devotion to science"<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Daniel J | title = THE X-RAYS | journal = Science | volume = 3 | issue = 67 | pages = 562–563 | date = April 1896 | pmid = 17779817 | doi = 10.1126/science.3.67.562 | bibcode = 1896Sci.....3..562D | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1448086 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The South in the Building of the Nation: Biography A-J | vauthors = Fleming WL |page=300 |publisher=Pelican Publishing |isbn=978-1589809468|date=1909 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IioKBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA174 |title=Understanding Ionizing Radiation and Protection |date=Mar 2014 |page=174|author1=Ce4Rt }}</ref> volunteered. Daniel reported that 21 days after taking a picture of Dudley's [[human skull|skull]] (with an exposure time of one hour), he noticed a bald spot {{convert|2|in|cm|sp=us|order=flip|0}} in diameter on the part of his head nearest the X-ray tube: "A plate holder with the plates towards the side of the skull was fastened and a [[coin]] placed between the skull and the head. The tube was fastened at the other side at a distance of one-half-inch [{{convert|.5|in|cm|disp=out}}] from the hair."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5GJs4tyb7wEC&pg=PA294|title=Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen and the Early History of the Roentgen Rays | vauthors = Glasser O |page=294 |date=1934 |publisher=Norman Publishing |isbn=978-0930405229}}</ref> Beyond burns, hair loss, and cancer, X-rays can be linked to infertility in males based on the amount of radiation used.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

In August 1896, H. D. Hawks, a graduate of Columbia College, suffered severe hand and chest burns from an X-ray demonstration. It was reported in ''Electrical Review'' and led to many other reports of problems associated with X-rays being sent in to the publication.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sansare K, Khanna V, Karjodkar F | title = Early victims of X-rays: a tribute and current perception | journal = Dento Maxillo Facial Radiology | volume = 40 | issue = 2 | pages = 123–125 | date = February 2011 | pmid = 21239576 | pmc = 3520298 | doi = 10.1259/dmfr/73488299 }}</ref> Many experimenters including [[Elihu Thomson]] at Edison's lab, [[William J. Morton]], and [[Nikola Tesla]] also reported burns. Elihu Thomson deliberately exposed a finger to an X-ray tube over a period of time and suffered pain, swelling, and blistering.<ref name="physics.isu.edu">{{Cite web|title=ISU Health Physics Radinf – First 50 Years|url=https://sites.google.com/isu.edu/health-physics-radinf/history-of-radiation-and-radiation-protection/first-50-years|access-date=2022-01-24|website=Sites.Google.com }}</ref> Other effects were sometimes blamed for the damage including ultraviolet rays and (according to Tesla) ozone.<ref name="Scenes from the past: Nikola Tesla" /> Many physicians claimed there were no effects from X-ray exposure at all.<ref name="physics.isu.edu" /> On 3 August 1905, in San Francisco, California, [[Elizabeth Fleischman]], an American X-ray pioneer, died from complications as a result of her work with X-rays.<ref>California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1835–1979. Database with images. FamilySearch. Jacob Fleischman in the entry for Elizabeth Aschheim. 3 August 1905. Citing funeral home J.S. Godeau, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Record book Vol. 06, p. 1–400, 1904–1906. San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco History and Archive Center.</ref><ref>Editor. (5 August 1905). Aschheim. Obituaries. ''San Francisco Examiner''. San Francisco, California.</ref><ref>Editor. (5 August 1905). Obituary Notice. Elizabeth Fleischmann. ''San Francisco Chronicle''. Page 10.</ref>

Hall-Edwards developed a cancer (then called X-ray dermatitis) sufficiently advanced by 1904 to cause him to write papers and give public addresses on the dangers of X-rays. His left arm had to be amputated at the elbow in 1908,<ref name="BirminghamCouncil">{{cite web |title=Major John Hall-Edwards |url=http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/xray |publisher=Birmingham City Council |access-date=23 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928204852/http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/xray |archive-date=28 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 June 2018 |title=JOHN HALL-EDWARDS |url=https://engole.info/john-hall-edwards/ |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=Engole the Elven for Knowledge}}</ref> and four fingers on his right arm soon thereafter, leaving only a thumb. He died of cancer in 1926. His left hand is kept at [[Birmingham University]].{{cn|date=December 2024}}