During World War I, many women left the home and worked in factories on assembly lines to support war efforts. Because of the chemicals they were exposed to, the women on these lines had their hair and skin stained yellow. This earned them the nickname of “Canary Girls”. This job involved filling shells with trinitrotoluene, or TNS. The women had to pack the casings with powder then place a detonator in the top. If they pressed too hard, it could detonate. Women lost fingers, hands, and vision, so the yellow skin coloring was seen as the least of their worries. Many agreed that because of the exposure to the chemicals the women looked like canaries, with the stains turning their hair blond and pigmenting their skin. It is even said that some of the women gave birth to babies with yellow skin.
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