Reply #20: Do you know of any studies done of inhaled or ingested depleted uranium? [View All]

[NNN0LHI]

This doctor has done some.

http://www.iicph.org/docs/DU_Human_Rights_Tribunal.htm

I am an epidemiologist, with 30 years of experience in studying the health effect of exposure to ionizing radiation. I would like to call the attention of the UN Human Rights Tribunal to the use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons against Iraq in the Gulf War, and by NATO in Bosnia and the Kosovo-Yugoslavian war. DU is radioactive waste, and it attains special deadly properties when it is fired in battle. Because of its density and the speed of the missile or bullet (up to 5 mach) containing it, DU bursts into flame on impact. It reaches very high temperatures, and becomes a ceramic aerosol which can be dispersed 100 km from the point of impact.

<snip>DU is a very powerful alpha particle emitter, with each particle carrying a force of about 4.2 MeV (million electron volts). It requires only 6 to 10 eV (electron volts) to break the DNA or other large molecules in the body. This long stay of DU from weapons within the body can now be demonstrated through 24-hour urine analysis. The presence of DU eight years after the Gulf War exposure, means that the internal organs: lung, lymph glands, bone marrow, liver, kidney, and immune system have experienced significant localized radiation damage. Testing of urine for both veterans of the Gulf War and citizens of Iraq has confirmed this long-term exposure to DU.

Since no DU occurs naturally, all uranium found in urine should be natural uranium unless there is a specific exposure to depleted or enriched uranium. From the two isotopic measurements, one can tell whether or not DU is present in the total sample of uranium by the following method:

<snip>This first approximation indicated that DU was present in the urine of both the Gulf War veterans and some of the Iraqi people, in quantities ranging from 0 to 10 micrograms. The radiation dose evaluation based on the biological half life for insoluble uranium oxide of 500 days, suggested by ICRP, shows that there is significant radiological hazard from this DU inhalation. DU is also a heavy metal, and is chemically toxic to humans. The true (observed) biological half-life of this ceramic uranium appears likely to be more than 10 years, and this presents an even more enhanced chemical and radiological hazard. For example, the magnitude of the individual hazard for fatal cancer may be as high as 3% to 5% for some veterans.

Two points need to be stressed: veterans and civilians in these wars WERE exposed to DU; and this inhaled DU represents a seriously enhanced risk of damaged immune systems and fatal cancers. This type of radiological and chemical warfare should be banned.

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