External Damage Caused by Radium

• The radiation that is emitted by radium has an ionizing effect on the atoms of the various parts of the cells of the body. In some cases, this ionizing radiation directly leads to a breakdown of the cell structure itself along with its other parts. Famous Nobel-Prize-winning scientist couple Pierre and Marie Curie said radium causes inflammation, dryness, painful rashes and burns to the skin and flesh.
  
  Another report of external damage from radium found in luminous watch material was from the "radium girls" from the early 20th century. These girls painted watches with radium paint, and wet the tips of their brushes with their tongues to keep the brush head nice and pointed. Some of these "radium girls" eventually lost their tongues and teeth and experienced bone decay.
  
  

Bone Cancer

• One of the most established effects of radium comes in the form of osteosarcoma, or bone cancer. Radium is a radioactive element that is closely related to calcium. Exposure or accidental ingestion and inhalation can lead the human body to take up radium as it if was taking up calcium. Some of this radium, along with calcium, may then be inadvertently used by the body during the synthesis of bone. The ionizing radiation from radium can then alter the DNA of bone cells and turn them into cancer cells, leading to bone cancer.
  
  Pierre Curie and the "radium girls" are famous for having acquired bone cancer due to exposure to radium. The National Academy of Sciences got similar findings and concluded that exposure to radium can lead to higher risk of getting bone cancer, and that includes exposure to radium from luminous watch material.
  
  

Leukemia and Aplastic Anemia

• Marie Curie died of leukemia, secondary to high exposure to radium. As radium can act like calcium in the body, radium can also end up around red bone marrow, the body's primary source of new blood cells. Ionizing radiation from radium coming from luminous watch material and other sources alters the DNA of bone marrow stem cells leading to leukemia, because of abnormal white blood cell proliferation, or aplastic anemia, due to insufficient blood cell production.
  
  

Radium Decaying into Radon Gas

• One of the products of radium decay is radon, an inert but radioactive gas. While radon may be eliminated through exhalation, radon decays into radioactive particles that may stay trapped in the lungs. The radiation from radon can then cause lung cancer in the same manner that radium would in bone.