MIT fed radioactive cereal to disabled boys — and called it the Science Club

The Walter E. Fernald State School in Waltham, Massachusetts was a state-run institution for mentally disabled children. Between 1946 and 1953, researchers from MIT and Harvard, funded by the US Atomic Energy Commission, conducted experiments in which disabled boys were fed radioactive iron and calcium mixed into their breakfast oatmeal and milk. The boys were told they were members of a special 'Science Club' that would give them extra food privileges. In the calcium study (1950-1953), 57 boys participated. In the iron study (1946), 17 subjects were involved.

The radioactive substances — iron-55, iron-59, and calcium-45 — were added to Quaker Oats cereal. The goal was to study how the body absorbs nutrients. The maximum radiation dose was later estimated at 330 millirem, which was claimed to be less than one year's background radiation in Denver. But the children were never told they were consuming radioactive material, and their parents were never asked for consent. The boys were institutionalized, mentally disabled, and unable to meaningfully consent on their own behalf.

The experiments were exposed in 1994 when the US Department of Energy declassified documents about Cold War-era human radiation experiments. The Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments found the studies 'morally troubling' due to the lack of informed consent and the targeting of institutionalized children. In 1995, a class-action lawsuit was filed. The case settled in 1998 for $1.85 million from MIT and Quaker Oats. The Fernald experiments became one of the most cited cases in the broader US human radiation experiments scandal.