6 ms·

> Of ingested plutonium, 99.99 percent will be excreted in a day or two.3 The experimenters had to figure out a way around this.1 Their solution was reprehensib

> Of ingested plutonium, 99.99 percent will be excreted in a day or two.3 The experimenters had to figure out a way around this.1 Their solution was reprehensible. > > In 1950, Manhattan Project doctors injected 18 people, ages 4–69, with plutonium without their knowledge. _Yikes_.

wolpoli 4y ago
Now I finally understand the pre-recorded messages in Portal 2.
- timeimp 4y ago
  beep Sarcasm Self-Test complete beep
- wkat4242 4y ago
  The yellowcake is a lie!
bobsmooth 4y ago
And even then none died from the radiation.
- mannykannot 4y ago
  Oh, that's all right, then.
- mc32 4y ago
  And evidently they lived longer than the median for their industry colleagues as well as the general population. So a couple of things could contribute: the healthiest of fit people were chosen, their jobs drove them to be healthier than their peers or somehow ingesting the stuff had a positive effect on them. The last one is dubious but without evidence to the contrary should be considered.
  - ajuc 4y ago
    Their health was monitored more closely because of these experiments giving them much better than average health outcomes.
    - tomxor 4y ago
      I'm still waiting for the plutonium supplements to arrive.
      - earlyam 4y ago
        [flagged]
      - rich_sasha 4y ago
        It did exist when radium was first discovered. Yup, for a radiant skin!
    - mc32 4y ago
      Some of these people died not knowing they had been subject to those experiments.
  - rzzzt 4y ago
    The last one is called "radiation hormesis", the opposing theory in which there is no safe level of ionizing radiation is "linear-no-threshold" (focusing only on the "no threshold" part). The middle ground is a threshold model in which low levels are hypothesized to do nothing for or against one's health. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_no-threshold_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_no-threshold_model
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
orangepurple 4y ago
I can see them adding plutonium to the DTaP vaccine they gave kids between 4 and 6 back then
- orangepurple 4y ago
  I was wrong. They only gave plutonium to children they thought would not survive much longer in the hospital.
slackdog 4y ago
> In 1950, Manhattan Project doctors I believe this date is inaccurate; the injections of Plutonium happened in 1945 through 1947. The Manhattan Project was disbanded in 1947. Those experiments might have continued, but they wouldn't have been under the Manhattan Project in 1950.
wumms 4y ago
"From 1945 to 1947, 18 people were injected with plutonium by Manhattan project doctors. [...] The government covered up most of these radiation mishaps until 1993, when President Bill Clinton ordered a change of policy and federal agencies then made available records dealing with human radiation experiments, as a result of Welsome's work. [...] The committee issued a controversial 1995 report which said that "wrongs were committed" but it did not condemn those who perpetrated them. The final report came out on October 3, 1995, the same day as the verdict in the O.J. Simpson case, when much of the media's attention was directed elsewhere." [0] "The US government settled with the victims' families, paying $400,000 per family." [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plutonium_Files https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plutonium_Files [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Hodge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Hodge
- rocket_surgeron 4y ago
  >The committee issued a controversial 1995 report which said that "wrongs were committed" but it did not condemn those who perpetrated them. The final report came out on October 3, 1995, the same day as the verdict in the O.J. Simpson case, when much of the media's attention was directed elsewhere." [0] Even if the verdict had not been announced that day, the visit of the Pope would have overshadowed the release of a 1,000 page advisory committee report which itself was only a slightly expanded investigation of an incident that had already been covered by a congressional committee report nine years earlier. Some people use the coincidence to imply that the administration tried to bury it, but it was actually an open-government initiative by the Clinton Administration meant to highlight their pursuit of injustice and had been on the calendar for weeks, with the printing of hundreds of copies of a 1,000 page book, the scheduling of a White House ceremony, and guests having been flown in from all over the country. The president even gave a 20-minute speech about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StId27Dmx78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StId27Dmx78 Whereas it was impossible to predict when the OJ Simpson verdict would be announced.

wolpoli 4y ago

Now I finally understand the pre-recorded messages in Portal 2.

timeimp 4y ago
beep Sarcasm Self-Test complete beep
wkat4242 4y ago
The yellowcake is a lie!

bobsmooth 4y ago

And even then none died from the radiation.

mannykannot 4y ago
Oh, that's all right, then.
mc32 4y ago
And evidently they lived longer than the median for their industry colleagues as well as the general population. So a couple of things could contribute: the healthiest of fit people were chosen, their jobs drove them to be healthier than their peers or somehow ingesting the stuff had a positive effect on them. The last one is dubious but without evidence to the contrary should be considered.
- ajuc 4y ago
  Their health was monitored more closely because of these experiments giving them much better than average health outcomes.
  - tomxor 4y ago
    I'm still waiting for the plutonium supplements to arrive.
    - earlyam 4y ago
      [flagged]
    - rich_sasha 4y ago
      It did exist when radium was first discovered. Yup, for a radiant skin!
  - mc32 4y ago
    Some of these people died not knowing they had been subject to those experiments.
- rzzzt 4y ago
  The last one is called "radiation hormesis", the opposing theory in which there is no safe level of ionizing radiation is "linear-no-threshold" (focusing only on the "no threshold" part). The middle ground is a threshold model in which low levels are hypothesized to do nothing for or against one's health. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_hormesis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_no-threshold_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_no-threshold_model
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

orangepurple 4y ago

I can see them adding plutonium to the DTaP vaccine they gave kids between 4 and 6 back then

orangepurple 4y ago
I was wrong. They only gave plutonium to children they thought would not survive much longer in the hospital.

slackdog 4y ago

> In 1950, Manhattan Project doctors I believe this date is inaccurate; the injections of Plutonium happened in 1945 through 1947. The Manhattan Project was disbanded in 1947. Those experiments might have continued, but they wouldn't have been under the Manhattan Project in 1950.

wumms 4y ago

"From 1945 to 1947, 18 people were injected with plutonium by Manhattan project doctors. [...] The government covered up most of these radiation mishaps until 1993, when President Bill Clinton ordered a change of policy and federal agencies then made available records dealing with human radiation experiments, as a result of Welsome's work. [...] The committee issued a controversial 1995 report which said that "wrongs were committed" but it did not condemn those who perpetrated them. The final report came out on October 3, 1995, the same day as the verdict in the O.J. Simpson case, when much of the media's attention was directed elsewhere." [0] "The US government settled with the victims' families, paying $400,000 per family." [1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plutonium_Files https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plutonium_Files [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Hodge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Hodge

rocket_surgeron 4y ago
>The committee issued a controversial 1995 report which said that "wrongs were committed" but it did not condemn those who perpetrated them. The final report came out on October 3, 1995, the same day as the verdict in the O.J. Simpson case, when much of the media's attention was directed elsewhere." [0] Even if the verdict had not been announced that day, the visit of the Pope would have overshadowed the release of a 1,000 page advisory committee report which itself was only a slightly expanded investigation of an incident that had already been covered by a congressional committee report nine years earlier. Some people use the coincidence to imply that the administration tried to bury it, but it was actually an open-government initiative by the Clinton Administration meant to highlight their pursuit of injustice and had been on the calendar for weeks, with the printing of hundreds of copies of a 1,000 page book, the scheduling of a White House ceremony, and guests having been flown in from all over the country. The president even gave a 20-minute speech about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StId27Dmx78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StId27Dmx78 Whereas it was impossible to predict when the OJ Simpson verdict would be announced.