Radium Boxes: On the Early History of the Transportation of Radioactive materials

The transport of radioactive materials has been an issue that has preoccupied professionals working with radiation in medical settings for over a century. With this editorial, we look back at the history of how radioactive materials – particularly radium – was moved and transported by early radiologists at the beginning of the 20^th century. After its discovery, radium was quickly commodified and sold in a variety of contexts, with medicine one of the primary ones. In these early days, radium was often shipped in small crates by the post, however, the precious mineral was not only radioactive and therefore dangerous, it was also highly valuable. This also led the main international organisation working on radiation protection of this period, the International Radiological Congress, to issue recommendations for the proper transport of radium. These recommendations also had important implications for radiological, clinical practice, and how radium was stored and transported within the clinic. The article concludes that the transportation of radioactive materials continues to be an important topic that occupies scientific and medical bodies.