Radioactive quackery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (August 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

"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.

[edit] 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