In the mid-20th century, atomic energy captivated the American imagination, leading toy manufacturers to produce science kits that contained real radioactive materials. The most famous was the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab, but by the late 1960s and early 1970s, regulatory standards had tightened significantly under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. In 1972, the federal government initiated an in rem civil forfeiture action against a batch of educational science sets distributed by W.
M. Welch Scientific Company, leading to the remarkably titled legal case United States v. Articles of Hazardous Substance.
In in rem cases, the lawsuit is filed directly against the property itself rather than the owner. The federal government alleged that the kits contained radioactive sources—specifically low-level isotopes of radium and uranium—that posed an illegal radiation hazard to children without adequate warning labels and safety protocols mandated by federal safety law. The Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Product Safety seized the games from distribution warehouses.
The court ruled in favor of the government, ordering the impounded kits to be destroyed or safely dismantled under strict nuclear disposal procedures. The case remains a fascinating legal artifact representing the abrupt shift from post-WWII atomic enthusiasm to modern consumer product safety regulations.