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Where the Bodies are Buried
Brentwood dump contains radioactive remains from
decades of animal and human tests.
PART 2 OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION "REAL HOT
PROPERTY"
During the 1950 and 60s, both UCLA and the Veteran’s
Administration were deeply engaged in the Atomic Age,
doing their part for the Cold War by performing radiation
experiments on a wide variety of animal and human
subjects. An unknown amount of the radioactive waste
from those experiments, including animal carcasses,
were buried in a dump that now lies under a popular
Brentwood dog park, and may be disturbed by
proposed development of the VA site.
Records of these nuke studies show a vast array of
experiments, and a potentially large amount of
contamination. The university nuked critters ranging
from rats to roosters and monkeys to mule deer. Some
of the
Brentwood dump contains radioactive remains from
decades of animal and human tests.
PART 2 OF THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION "REAL HOT
PROPERTY"
During the 1950 and 60s, both UCLA and the Veteran’s
Administration were deeply engaged in the Atomic Age,
doing their part for the Cold War by performing radiation
experiments on a wide variety of animal and human
subjects. An unknown amount of the radioactive waste
from those experiments, including animal carcasses,
were buried in a dump that now lies under a popular
Brentwood dog park, and may be disturbed by
proposed development of the VA site.
Records of these nuke studies show a vast array of
experiments, and a potentially large amount of
contamination. The university nuked critters ranging
from rats to roosters and monkeys to mule deer. Some
of the
"More than 100 patients and several hundred rabbits" were injected with
radioiodine in this UCLA experiment, according to a 1957 Atomic Energy
Commission report. Nuked rabbits were buried in the Brentwood dump.
radioiodine in this UCLA experiment, according to a 1957 Atomic Energy
Commission report. Nuked rabbits were buried in the Brentwood dump.
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experiments involved post mortems on animals killed by a deadly dose of
radiation from atomic explosions. One involved the injecting of poisonous
radionuclides like strontium-90 into pregnant Rhesus monkeys in 1961, and
strontium-85 into the fetuses. Another in 1954 involved ten burros essentially X-
rayed to death, taking three weeks to die.
Experiments on live humans were kept under wraps, but were uncovered in the
1990s and caused a huge uproar. Examples of UCLA and West L.A. VA
experiments on people are chronicled in the 1996 report, “The Human
Radiation Experiments,” put together by an advisory committee to President Bill
Clinton. One typical UCLA/VA experiment involved injecting patients with
radioiodine to image their thyroids in 1951. Another from 1962-64 saw 11
patients given radioactive calcium-47 in an “atomic cocktail” to see how well
they absorbed the material.
The advisory committee recognized that these human radiation experiments
were morally bankrupt in its report. “We argue here that the use of patients in
non-therapeutic experiments without their consent was not only a violation of
these basic moral principles but also a violation of the Hippocratic principle that
was the cornerstone of professional medical ethics at that time. That principle
enjoins physicians to act in the best interests of their patients and thus would
seem to prohibit subjecting patients to experiments from which they could not
benefit.”
“[I]n some non-therapeutic tracer studies involving children, radioisotope
exposures were associated with increases in the potential lifetime risk for
developing cancer that would be considered unacceptable today. The Advisory
Committee also identified several studies in which patients died soon after
receiving external radiation or radioisotope doses in the therapeutic range that
were associated with acute radiation effects.”
The 1953 film The Atom and You shows a man downing one of these infamous
atomic cocktails as well as the testing of radioactive dust inhalation at UCLA.
Atom in the Hospital, a 1961 film, shows UCLA research on the effects of
radiation on the human body. Other UCLA human radiation experiments
included the use of the radionuclides zinc-65, strontium-85, gold-198, iodine-
125, cobalt-60, copper-67, manganese-54, xenon133, and indium-113.
radiation from atomic explosions. One involved the injecting of poisonous
radionuclides like strontium-90 into pregnant Rhesus monkeys in 1961, and
strontium-85 into the fetuses. Another in 1954 involved ten burros essentially X-
rayed to death, taking three weeks to die.
Experiments on live humans were kept under wraps, but were uncovered in the
1990s and caused a huge uproar. Examples of UCLA and West L.A. VA
experiments on people are chronicled in the 1996 report, “The Human
Radiation Experiments,” put together by an advisory committee to President Bill
Clinton. One typical UCLA/VA experiment involved injecting patients with
radioiodine to image their thyroids in 1951. Another from 1962-64 saw 11
patients given radioactive calcium-47 in an “atomic cocktail” to see how well
they absorbed the material.
The advisory committee recognized that these human radiation experiments
were morally bankrupt in its report. “We argue here that the use of patients in
non-therapeutic experiments without their consent was not only a violation of
these basic moral principles but also a violation of the Hippocratic principle that
was the cornerstone of professional medical ethics at that time. That principle
enjoins physicians to act in the best interests of their patients and thus would
seem to prohibit subjecting patients to experiments from which they could not
benefit.”
“[I]n some non-therapeutic tracer studies involving children, radioisotope
exposures were associated with increases in the potential lifetime risk for
developing cancer that would be considered unacceptable today. The Advisory
Committee also identified several studies in which patients died soon after
receiving external radiation or radioisotope doses in the therapeutic range that
were associated with acute radiation effects.”
The 1953 film The Atom and You shows a man downing one of these infamous
atomic cocktails as well as the testing of radioactive dust inhalation at UCLA.
Atom in the Hospital, a 1961 film, shows UCLA research on the effects of
radiation on the human body. Other UCLA human radiation experiments
included the use of the radionuclides zinc-65, strontium-85, gold-198, iodine-
125, cobalt-60, copper-67, manganese-54, xenon133, and indium-113.
"Where the Bodies are Buried" is
investigative journalist Michael
Collins' extended version of this
week's LA CityBeat Frontlines
news feature.
It is Part 2 of last week's cover
story Real Hot Property that
began LA CityBeat's Brentwood
nuke dump investigation.
Archival photographs and films of
Atomic Age human radiation
experiments are located here.
investigative journalist Michael
Collins' extended version of this
week's LA CityBeat Frontlines
news feature.
It is Part 2 of last week's cover
story Real Hot Property that
began LA CityBeat's Brentwood
nuke dump investigation.
Archival photographs and films of
Atomic Age human radiation
experiments are located here.
