Death

Marie Curie died aged 66 on July 4, 1934, killed by aplastic anemia, a disease of the bone marrow. It is likely that the radioactivity she had been exposed to during her career caused the disease.Scientists are now much more cautious in their handling of radioactive elements and X rays than they were in the first few decades after their discovery. Marie Curies own books and papers are so radioactive that they are now stored in lead boxes, which may only be opened by people wearing protective suits.