Carter Roy

They collect dust samples and test the air.

What they find terrifies them.

Of course, they know there's radium in the factory.

That's what the paint is made of.

But the drinkers aren't prepared for how much.

The place is saturated.

Cecil Drinker later writes that dust samples collected throughout the workroom, even from chairs not used by the workers, glow in the dark.

The drinkers also examine the workers themselves.

They see the glowing dresses, the shiny hair.

One woman has glowing spots on her legs and thighs.

Another's back glows almost to the waist.

They conclude the radium isn't just on them, it's in them.

The drinkers submit their report in the summer of 1924.

Their conclusion.

Radium is almost certainly causing the illnesses.

They recommend immediate safety precautions.

This is not what Roeder wants to hear.

He pressures the drinkers into not publishing their report publicly.

The Harvard School of Public Health depends partly on USRC funding, so the drinkers don't want to sour that relationship.

When they push back anyway, Roeder threatens to sue.