Depleted Uranium Q & A
Q: What is depleted uranium (DU)?
A: DU is a byproduct of the process that produces enriched uranium for use in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants. Both forms of uranium are very highly concentrated compared to uranium in the ground, and both are toxic and radioactive. Since DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, it's radioactivity effectively lasts forever.
|
|
A sign in Iraq. Translation, from right to left (at top:) Danger! Danger! (at bottom:) Don't touch unknown things! Photo by Gerri Haynes |
Q: What is it used for?
A: It's used as anti-armor munitions because it can pierce very heavy armor. It's almost twice as dense as lead, and will self-sharpen on impact. However, it also bursts into flame on impact and atomizes into microscopic radioactive particles that are easily inhaled.
DU is also used as armor in the Abrams tanks, and there is some question about the health effects on the soldiers sitting in Abrams tanks that are armed with DU ammunition. Leonard Dietz has addressed this in his research: "Exposure to gamma rays emitted from DU is another pathway into the body. Crews are exposed to the equivalent of one chest X-ray for every 20-30 hours they spend in an Abrams tank armed with DU ammunition (Ref. 30)"
There are also many reports that babies born to service personnel who were exposed to significant quantities of DU aerosol dust and DU fragments during the fighting, have significant health problems and birth defects.
Q: Wasn't it used in the Balkans and the 1991 Gulf War with very few health effects?
A: Thousands of veterans of the Gulf War have long-term health problems relating to their service in the Gulf, and there are indications that DU is a contributor to their problems. A November 2002 article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has pointed out: "Of the 696,778 troops who served during the recognized conflict phase (1990-1991) of the Gulf War, at least 20,6861 have applied for VA medical benefits. As of May 2002, 159,238 veterans have been awarded service-connected disability by the Department of Veterans Affairs for health effects collectively known as the Gulf War Syndrome."
A December 2002 Christian Science Monitor article talks about the health effects on the local population of Iraq: "But the invisible particles created when those bullets struck and burned are still 'hot.' They make Geiger counters sing, and they stick to the tanks, contaminating the soil and blowing in the desert wind, as they will for the 4.5 billion years it will take the DU to lose just half its radioactivity." The article also mentions that Abdulkarim Hussein Subber, a gynecologist at the Basra Maternity and Children's Hospital, has three photo albums full of images of unimaginable birth defects that he claims are six times more prevalent today than before the Gulf War.
|
|
Cleaning up demolished Iraqi anti-aircraft guns. Photo by Gerri Haynes |
Q: But isn't it true that DU is 40% less radioactive than natural background radiation?
A: That's true when comparing one molecule of each to the other. But uranium in the earth is relatively scarce; on average there is about one teaspoon of uranium in 5 tons of earth. Background radiation comes from uranium radiating from miles below the earth, whereas DU is a much more 'in your face'or (more accurately) in your lungs source of radiation, because it bursts into flames upon impact when used in combat, creating radioactive particles that are inhaled by anyone in the area (at the time of impact and afterward).
Geiger counter readings done recently in Iraq indicate that "DU shell holes in the vehicles along the Highway of Death are 1,000 times more radioactive than background radiation, according to Geiger counter readings done for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer....."
Consider this: Water when you swim in it, is harmless, but aspirating it into your lungs is an entirely different matter. The same is true for uranium when it radiates at you from a highly diluted form in the soil, versus when you inhale concentrated bacteria-sized particles of it. And that's the form of exposure (inhalation) that's most problematic about DU: when it's used in combat, it bursts into flame (before or during contact with the target) and creates microscopic light-as-air uranium particles that are easily inhaled.
And inhalation can occur even long after the 'burning' event, since part of the dust which settles on the dirt and sand will be re-stirred whenever someone walks on it. Restirring includes the movement of children playing in the area, as can be seen from the photo in this article on DU contamination.
Once inhaled, or ingested by hand-to-mouth from dust-tainted objects, the DU enters the blood stream and travels throughout the body.
Q: Well, OK, so the route of travel makes a difference, but the Pentagon maintains that all uranium taken in is excreted by the urine. Is there any evidence that DU stays in the body or causes any damage while in the body?
A: It's been known since before DU was first used on the battlefield that it causes kidney damage when inhaled or ingested in high doses, but Armed Forces researchers have recently discovered that it can cause both short term and long term chromosomal damage (Dr. A. C. Miller), and has been detected in the semen of some Gulf War veterans (Dr. M. McDiarmid).
Q: Hmm. I can see there's a bit more to know about this than I had thought. Where can I find more info?
A: These are all places to start that will lead to many more places:
- What is depleted Uranium?
http://www.cadu.org.uk/intro.htm - Iraqi cancers, birth defects blamed on U.S. depleted uranium.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/95178_du12.shtml - UN finds Kosovo nuclear danger, a special report from Guardian Unlimited.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uranium/story/0,7369,423418,00.html - Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/atcsmonitor/specials/uranium/ - The Military Toxics Project:
http://www.miltoxproj.org/DU/DU_Titlepage/DU_Titlepage.htm - Depleted Uranium Campaign at Traprock Peace Center
http://traprockpeace.org/depleteduranium.html - Uranium Medical Research Center
- Poisoned? U.S. Troops victims of America's high-tech weapons
A recent report from the New York Daily News about depleted uranium.
Copies available of Major Rokke Depleted Uranium tape!
The North Seattle Neighbors for Peace and Justice now have access to large quantities of copies of the edited version (30mins) of Major Doug Rokke's speech on Depleted Uranium. We would like to make the video available to teachers who think they could use it in the classroom, and also to anyone who is interested in showing it to neighbors and friends. We only asked for a small contribution of $2.50 to cover mailing costs. (Any additional contribution would go toward our peace work.)
Major Rokke was the Pentagon Depleted Uranium expert and exposes the dangers this weapon poses to our troops and civilians. 159,000 American troops from the Gulf war suffer from Gulf War Syndrome, according to Major Rokke, primarily caused by DU. Eight thousand troops have died since the Gulf War. Cancer rates in bombed areas have multiplied. These facts have been covered up by our government. We would like the public to know about this. Please help us distribute these videos by passing on this information.
Contact osheroff@w-link.net for your copy.
Q. What can I do to stop the use of DU?
A. Urge your rep. to support and cosponsor Rep. Jim McDermott's bill to study the health effects of DU traprockpeace.org/DUBill24March03.html
 |
 |