Although radiation was discovered in late 19th century, the dangers of radioactivity and of radiation were not immediately recognized. Acute effects of radiation were first observed in the use of
X-rays when German physicist
Wilhelm Röntgen intentionally subjected his fingers to X-rays in 1895. He published his observations concerning the burns that developed, though he misattributed them to ozone, a
free radical produced in air by X-rays. Other free radicals produced within the body are now understood to be more important. His injuries healed later. As a field of medical sciences, radiobiology originated from
Leopold Freund's 1896 demonstration of the therapeutic treatment of a hairy
mole using the newly discovered form of
electromagnetic radiation called X-rays. After irradiating frogs and insects with X-rays in early 1896,
Ivan Romanovich Tarkhanov concluded that these newly discovered rays not only photograph, but also "affect the living function". At the same time, Pierre and
Marie Curie discovered the radioactive polonium and radium later used to treat
cancer. The genetic effects of radiation, including the effects on cancer risk, were recognized much later. In 1927
Hermann Joseph Muller published research showing genetic effects, and in 1946 was awarded the
Nobel Prize for his findings. More generally, the 1930s saw attempts to develop a general model for radiobiology. Notable here was
Douglas Lea, whose presentation also included an exhaustive review of some 400 supporting publications. Before the biological effects of radiation were known, many physicians and corporations had begun marketing radioactive substances as
patent medicine and
radioactive quackery. Examples were radium
enema treatments, and radium-containing waters to be drunk as tonics.
Marie Curie spoke out against this sort of treatment, warning that the effects of radiation on the human body were not well understood. Curie later died of
aplastic anemia caused by radiation poisoning.
Eben Byers, a famous American socialite, died of multiple cancers (but not acute radiation syndrome) in 1932 after consuming large quantities of
radium over several years; his death drew public attention to dangers of radiation. By the 1930s, after a number of cases of bone necrosis and death in enthusiasts, radium-containing medical products had nearly vanished from the market. In the United States, the experience of the so-called
Radium Girls, where thousands of radium-dial painters contracted oral cancers— but no cases of acute radiation syndrome— popularized the warnings of occupational health associated with radiation hazards.
Robley D. Evans, at
MIT, developed the first standard for permissible body burden of
radium, a key step in the establishment of
nuclear medicine as a field of study. With the development of
nuclear reactors and
nuclear weapons in the 1940s, heightened scientific attention was given to the study of all manner of radiation effects. The
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki resulted in a large number of incidents of radiation poisoning, allowing for greater insight into its symptoms and dangers. Red Cross Hospital surgeon Dr. Terufumi Sasaki led intensive research into the Syndrome in the weeks and months following the Hiroshima bombings. Sasaki and his team were able to monitor the effects of radiation in patients of varying proximities to the blast itself, leading to the establishment of three recorded stages of the syndrome. Within 25–30 days of the explosion, the Red Cross surgeon noticed a sharp drop in white blood cell count and established this drop, along with symptoms of fever, as prognostic standards for Acute Radiation Syndrome. Actress
Midori Naka, who was present during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, was the first incident of radiation poisoning to be extensively studied. Her death on August 24, 1945, was the first death ever to be officially certified as a result of radiation poisoning (or "atomic bomb disease"). The
Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission and the
Radiation Effects Research Foundation have been monitoring the health status of the survivors and their descendants since 1946. They have found that radiation exposure increases cancer risk, but also that the average lifespan of survivors was reduced by only a few months compared to those not exposed to radiation. No health effects of any sort have thus far been detected in children of the survivors. ==Areas of interest==