Canary Girls

The Canary Girls were British women who worked in munitions manufacturing trinitrotoluene (TNT) shells during the First World War (1914–1918).

[6] Shells were filled with a mixture of TNT (the explosive) and cordite (the propellant),[citation needed] and even though these ingredients were known to be hazardous to one's health, they were mixed by hand so came into direct contact with the workers' skin.

[4] A medical investigation was carried out by the government in 1916, to closely study the effects of TNT on the munitions workers.

The investigators were able to gather their data by acting as female medical officers posted inside the factories.

Hundreds of "Canary Babies" were born with a slightly yellow skin colour because of their mothers' exposure to dangerous chemicals in the munitions factories during World War One.