Depleted Uraniumby Harrison Gunnarshaug

Bio-Medical Sciences 136

"DU is used in armour penetrating military ordinance because of its high density, and also because DU can ignite on impact"

“Following conflict, levels of DU contamination in food and drinking water might be detected in affected areas even after a

few years. This should be monitored where it is considered there is a reasonable possibility of significant quantities of DU entering

the ground water or food chain.”“Depleted uranium (DU) has been used in medical and industrial applications for decades but only since its use in military conflicts in the Gulf and the Balkans has public concern been raised about

potential health consequences from exposure to it. Concerns have been particularly for peacekeeping forces, humanitarian

workers and local populations living and working in areas contaminated by DU following conflict.”

-The United Nations’ World Health Organization

Despite the immense adverse reactions (such as birth defects and cancers),

international illegality, and the radioactive half-life of

billions of years, many countries and organizations

in the world use deadly depleted uranium (DU)

ammunitions (including the United States of America, the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization [NATO], and the United Kingdom).

“Small children could receive greater exposure to DU when playing in or near DU impact sites. Their typical hand-to-mouth activity could lead to high DU ingestion from contaminated soil.

Necessary preventative measures should be taken.”

“Intake from wound contamination or embedded fragments in skin tissues may allow DU to enter the systemic

circulation.”

-The United Nations’ World Health Organization

“uranium released from embedded fragments may accumulate in the central nervous system (CNS) tissue, and some animal and

human studies are suggestive of effects on CNS function”

Children in Iraq with birth defects directly related to foreign chemical

weapons, including depleted uranium.

“A high number of children are being born with birth defects in an Iraqi city where U.S. forces may have used chemical

weapons during a fierce battle in 2004. Children in Fallujah are being born with limb, head, heart and nervous system

defects.” “The number of heart defects among newborn babies is said to be 13 times higher than the rate in Europe.” “Under international law it is illegal if used as an offensive

weapon” – Daily Mail

“More than ten times the amount of radiation released during atmospheric testing [of nuclear bombs] has been released from DU weaponry since 1991. The genetic future of the Iraqi people, for the most part, is destroyed. The environment now is

completely radioactive.” “Because DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, the Middle East will, for all purposes, be radioactive forever.”

- Leuren Moret, a U.S. nuclear scientist who worked at the Lawrence Liverpool National Laboratory, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy

“The fraction of uranium absorbed into the blood is generally greater following inhalation than following ingestion of the same chemical form. The fraction will also depend on the particle size

distribution. For some soluble forms, more than 20% of the inhaled material could be absorbed into blood.”

“There is no known specific treatment of uranium exposure.”

-The United Nations’ World Health Organization

“Kidney dysfunction is the main chemically-induced effect of uranium in humans. Damage to renal tubules may lead to

tubulopathy.”

Not unlike the effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam and the atomic bombs on Japan, depleted uranium isn’t just deadly to those it is fired

at: it is also deadly to anyone who enters a location where DU has been fired before and also to the offspring of those directly affected. With a half-life of billions of years, the damage today will be just as bad in a thousand, million, and billion years. Since these chemical weapons have been used in Iraq, the rate of birth defects has sky-

rocketed.

“According to Vietnam's Red Cross, 150,000 children have problems resulting from Agent Orange.”

-BBC News

A girl born with six fingers on one of her hands in Fallujah, Iraq

“In the short term, the kidneys are the most susceptible organ if large amounts of material, either by inhalation or ingestion, are

absorbed into the bloodstream.”

“[Urinary excretion of uranium] seem[s] to have no effect once the uranium is fixed in the skeleton or in the kidney.”

“In case of acute DU exposure there is the possibility of renal tubular acidosis. If DU dust inhalation resulted in the

incorporation of significant amounts of insoluble uranium compounds, long-term patient follow up should include checks

for lung tumours.”

-The United Nations’ World Health Organization

“The Gulf War was the arena for the first battlefield use of armor-piercing munitions and reinforced tank armor incorporating

depleted uranium. Depleted uranium played a key role in the overwhelming success of U.S. forces during the Gulf War. While

DU showed the metal's clear superiority for both armor penetration and armor protection, its chemical and radiological

properties gave rise to concerns about possible combat and non-combat health risks associated with DU use.”

-The United States Department of Defense

“the Office of the Special Assistant believes that

DU can pose a chemical toxicity and radiological

hazard”

“Uranium isotopes emit mainly α, but also some β radiation, and a very small amount of γ radiation.”

-The United Nations’ World Health Organization

"Under most circumstances, use of DU will make a negligible contribution to the overall natural background levels of uranium

in the environment. Probably the greatest potential for DU exposure will follow conflict where DU munitions are used.”

"Levels of DU may exceed background levels of uranium close to DU contaminating events. Over the days and years following such

an event, the contamination normally becomes dispersed into the wider natural environment by wind and rain. People living or

working in affected areas may inhale contaminated dusts or consume contaminated food and drinking water.”

“Within and adjacent to areas where DU has been used, groundwater used for drinking should be

checked by appropriate authorities for possible DU contamination.”

-The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

“Depleted uranium is a low-cost radioactive material that, in addition to other applications, is used by the military in kinetic energy weapons against armored vehicles. During

the Gulf and Balkan conflicts concern has been raised about the potential health hazards arising from the toxic and radioactive material released. The aerosol produced

during impact and combustion of depleted uranium munitions can potentially contaminate wide areas around the impact sites or can be inhaled by civilians and military

personnel.” - Institute of Nuclear Technology & Radiation Protection

“Where justified and possible, clean-up operations in impact zones should be undertaken if there are substantial numbers of radioactive projectiles remaining and where qualified experts

deem contamination levels to be unacceptable. If high concentrations of DU dust or metal fragments are present, then

areas may need to be cordoned off until removal can be accomplished. Such impact sites are likely to contain a variety of

hazardous materials, in particular unexploded ordnance. Due consideration needs to be given to all hazards, and the potential

hazard from DU kept in perspective.”

“There may be areas where there is significant DU debris or dusts, but these should have been cordoned off and sign-posted

accordingly.”

-The United Nations’ World Health Organization

A U.S. soldier holding a DU sabot round next to an Abrams A-1 tank

Above: A U.S. anti-tank and –personnel A-10 Thunderbolt II Aircraft, which fires DU rounds

Below: the same type of aircraft as above being loaded

“Depleted uranium is being used increasingly often as a component of munitions in military conflicts. Military personnel, civilians and the DU munitions producers are being exposed to the DU aerosols that are generated. “ “In aggregate the human

epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU.”

-Rita Hindin (of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Concentration, University of Massachusetts School of Public Health and Health Sciences), Doug Brugge (of the

Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine), and Bindu Panikkar (of the Department of Civil and Environmental

Engineering, Tufts School of Engineering

This chart illustrates the

process in which depleted

uranium is created.

“Soldiers returning from the Gulf will be offered tests to check levels of depleted uranium in their bodies to assess whether they are in danger of suffering kidney damage and lung cancer as a result of exposure,

the Ministry of Defence said last night.” “Depleted uranium is standard in a number of anti-tank weapons. Amounts in bullets, shells and bombs vary from 300 grams to 7 tonnes in the bunker-busters of the type

dropped on Baghdad. The bombs used on the restaurant in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Saddam Hussein are believed to have contained tonnes of depleted uranium which would have contaminated the

surrounding area. Experts have calculated that from all sources between 1,000 and 2,000 tonnes of depleted uranium were used by the coalition in the three-week conflict. Unep said immediate priorities should include restoring the water supply and sanitation systems, and cleaning pollution hot spots and

waste sites to reduce the risk of epidemics from accumulated municipal and medical wastes. Prof [Brian] Spratt [FRS] added: "About 340 tonnes of DU were fired in the 1991 Gulf war. The coalition needs to make

clear where and how much DU was used in the recent conflict.”” - The Guardian

Army National Guard Spec. Gerard Darren Matthew was sent home

from Iraq after DU gave him uranium contamination. After his return, his

wife became pregnant and had a child that was missing three fingers on her left hand and almost all of

her right hand.