Arsenic was also touted as a cure for syphilis, although probably in tiny tiny print, if at all, on containers sold in public. Another interesting, albeit slightly tangential, situation was with women in factories applying radium to clock dial so you could read the time in the dark. If you go the the graveyards near the factories where this was done, you can still get Geiger counter numbers well above background, as the workers would "point" the ends of their brushes by placing them between their lips.