Radioactive cereal

During the 1940s and '50s 15 children were exposed to radioactive cereal experiments in the USA.

The children, according to the documents filed in a federal lawsuit, were told they were part of a science club to trick them into participating in the experiments. The experiments were designed to mesure radiation exposure and long term consequences of radiation

Small amounts of calcium and iron tagged with radioactive tracers were put in the boys' cereal, allowing researchers to track the absorption of those nutrients as the oatmeal was digested.

Some experiments were carried out during the Cold War for military or medical purposes.