Fernald / Wrentham Radiation Experiments on Children (1946-1956)
concept
In the 1940s and 50s, American scientists fed radioactive material to disabled children in their breakfast cereal without telling them.
Who they are
Cold War radiation experiments run on institutionalized children at the Fernald and Wrentham schools in Massachusetts (1946-1956).
What they do
Researchers dosed children with radioactive substances to study how the body absorbs them and to test fallout defenses.
How it works
MIT researchers, funded by the Atomic Energy Commission, NIH, and Quaker Oats, fed radioactive calcium and iron in cereal to boys labeled 'mentally retarded' at Fernald, luring them with a fake 'science club'; at Wrentham, toddlers were given radioactive iodine.
Why it matters
It's a documented, now-declassified case of the government experimenting on vulnerable children without consent, part of a wider pattern of using kids as test subjects.
The engine's record — word for word
MIT researchers, funded by the Atomic Energy Commission, NIH, and Quaker Oats, fed institutionalized 'mentally retarded' boys radioactive calcium and iron in breakfast cereal at the Fernald State School (deceived via a 'science club'); at Wrentham, radioactive iodine was administered to toddlers to test fallout countermeasures. Cold-War unconsented pediatric experimentation; the US arm of the engineered-child substrate. Source: declassified records; 1994 Congressional Record; Columbia/Rothman. [TIER: DECLASSIFIED]
Follow the trail
Walk this on the live map →