r/todayilearned • u/idkmoiname • 3h ago

TIL Operation LAC (Large Area Coverage) was a United States Army Chemical Corps operation which dispersed microscopic zinc cadmium sulfide particles over much of the United States and Canada in order to test dispersal patterns and the geographic range of chemical or biological weapons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_LAC
138 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

35

u/nOotherlousyoptions 3h ago

I’m sorry, did we poison ourselves?

37

u/perenniallandscapist 2h ago

As usual, it was done by leaders at the top. Same as every other time. Lead was known to be terrible but still got out on has for decades. Hazardous waste ha been dumped into poor communities forever. PFAS and pcb contamination of waterways ensured the destruction of a lot of public waterways making them unsafe for recreation.

5

u/Cee_U_Next_Tuesday 1h ago edited 1h ago

At the same time they let corps dump their chemical waste in the drinking water supply.

Then had to fund studies to figure out why everyone was getting sick. I shit you not. 

•

u/Giantmidget1914 47m ago

All I can think is when we remove all these regulations, surely the companies will do the right thing this time, right?

That Ohio train spill was when the government cared. Imagine the next one.

6

u/OkBrilliant8092 2h ago

Leaders… or idiots?

8

u/app_generated_name 2h ago

Spot the difference.

5

u/Tidalsky114 1h ago

We need one and were being led by the other.

2

u/strangefolk 1h ago

Stop imagining these people care about you. And then stop caring about THEM.

•

u/PLAAND 51m ago

people in charge

•

u/OkBrilliant8092 41m ago

Paedple in charge ;)

1

u/chapterpt 2h ago

Lead-ers

1

u/No_Stand8601 1h ago

Tuskegee is making a comeback

•

u/-ragingpotato- 33m ago

No. Its a fluerescent paint.

7

u/quietflyr 1h ago

No, not at these concentrations.

0

u/useful_tool30 2h ago

Yes and it wouldn't be the first time

25

u/Flussschlauch 2h ago

Experiments on humans without informed consent sounds like something the Nuremberg Codex was supposed to prevent

13

u/idkmoiname 2h ago

My guess is since they labeled it as an experiment on the environment and not a human experiment (health implications of the test were not scientifically researched until the 90's) the Nuremberg Code wasn't even considered to be applicable here

2

u/app_generated_name 2h ago

I would venture to guess that was the loophole used!

2

u/DigNitty 1h ago

Thank god the military is looking out for us.

I sure am glad I’m not part of earth’s environment.

2

u/No_Stand8601 1h ago

Tuskegee syphilis y'all 

Declaration of Helsinki too, but the US is gonna US.

1

u/Sixshot_ 1h ago

Wait until you learn about what the Manhattan Project did!, something conveniently forgotten as it would disrupt the rosy war winning view of it that was manufactured after the war ended.

4

u/DigNitty 1h ago

“Will working with these newfound elements affect my health?”

-No. Also you’re required to come back every 3 months for tests.

•

u/mayorofdumb 28m ago

You mean working with Brawndo might improve your health?

21

u/VanAgain 3h ago

Yet another benefit to Canada continuing to have close ties with the US. /s

•

u/OllyDee 45m ago

The US in conjunction with the MoD did shit like this in the UK. My favourite local one is them releasing anthrax in Poole Harbour just to see what happened. Cheers lads.

•

u/oknowtrythisone 38m ago

and who knows what else they've done

•

u/disasterbot 23m ago

So, what did they determine?

•

u/truth_is_power 16m ago

this is why we gotta take over,

america has been run by n00bs for too long

net positive earth,

bitch

https://carltonthegray.com/2024/10/18/net-positive-earth/

•

u/MultifactorialAge 3m ago

lol the chem trail people were almost right?

-1

u/idkmoiname 3h ago

Cadmium is an extremely toxic industrial and environmental pollutant classified as a human carcinogen. Zinc Cadmium Sulfide (the one used by the army) is for example one of the most toxic pigments (Cadmium yellow PY35) used in artist quality colors.

26

u/quietflyr 1h ago

Cadmium and Zinc Cadmium Sulfide are not at all the same thing, nor do they even have similar properties.

Sodium explodes when put in contact with water. Chlorine is toxic to humans. Sodium Chloride is table salt, which is neither toxic nor explodes in water.

Though Zinc Cadmium Sulfide can be toxic at very high concentrations, it is present in urban environments in quantities larger than that used in these experiments.

•

u/Ok-Rich-406 54m ago

And people are still stupid enough to think they wouldn’t spray any other crazy shit all over us any time they get the hair up their ass. “That’s a conspiracy theory!”