Imagine carrying around radioactive material in your pocket. Sounds strange...? You bet it was, but still it happened. Madame Currie's belongings are still dangerous after all this time!
The Suburban Chernobyl
Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution
Many know that Madame Curie’s work led to her untimely demise, but few know the lasting effects that the radiation exposure has had on her belongings. Currently, her notebook is so radioactive that it must be stored in a lead box. To be able to view her personal belongings, you need protective clothing and a liability waiver.
This is not at all surprising because Curie literally walked around with hunks of polonium, radium, and uranium in her pockets. She continued to conduct her radiation experiments until she died in 1934.
Trucks were often seen dropping off the iron she used to extract her radioactive isotopes and carrying away the waste. Even today, with 90 percent of the building’s contents removed, there continues to be a mini-Chernobyl where her abandoned laboratory stands.
Many of the surrounding neighbors blame her laboratory for their cancer rates, although many maintain that the building is no longer dangerously radioactive.
Sounds to me like her clothes would almost glow in the dark
Coffee out on the patio today.
