The documentary tells the story of women in Ottawa, Illinois who suffered from radium poisoning in the 1920s. They worked on clock dials, wetting their brushes with their tongues, and later shared their experiences of poisoning and bureaucratic struggles for compensation.
Radium City
The 1920s saw a group of women in Ottawa, Illinois unwittingly exposed to radium poisoning while painting clock dials, a task that entailed using their tongues to wet paintbrushes, resulting in devastating health consequences.