My husband summarizes the scientist's comments about DU to me.
Alpha radiation is essentially harmless. You can stop it by wearing clothes.
The problem arises when it turns into dust (imagine that the dust is turned into an aerosol spray.)
After the dust hits your lungs, your blood circulates the particles throughout your body. DU becomes
dangerous if it is inhaled.
After I talked to my husband, I found the following articles on the net.
Characteristics of Alpha Radiation
orau.gov
1. Alpha radiation is not able to penetrate skin.
2. Alpha-emitting materials can be harmful to humans if the materials are
inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through open wounds.
3. A variety of instruments have been designed to measure alpha radiation.
Special training in use of these instruments is essential for making
accurate measurements.
4. A civil defense instrument (CD V-700) cannot detect the presence of
radioactive materials that produce alpha radiation unless the radioactive
materials also produce beta and/or gamma radiation.
5. Instruments cannot detect alpha radiation through even a thin layer of
water, blood, dust, paper, or other material, because alpha radiation is not
penetrating.
6. Alpha radiation travels a very short distance through air.
7. Alpha radiation is not able to penetrate turnout gear, clothing, or a cover
on a probe. Turnout gear and dry clothing can keep alpha emitters off of
the skin.
orau.gov
>>>>>>>>
WHAT IS DEPLETED URANIUM? READ METAL OF DISHONOR TO SEE
WHAT IS BEHIND THE HEADLINES
iacenter.org
The following is an excerpt from the article:
"The Pentagon used DU weapons in Iraq in 1991, in Bosnia in 1995 and
in Yugoslavia-especially in Kosovo-in 1999 in large enough amounts to have a significant impact
on the environment. Besides endangering occupation troops it of course is a
major environmental threat to the population of those regions.
Of the 697,000 US troops who served in the Gulf, some 130,000 have
reported medical problems ranging from respiratory, liver and kidney dysfunction, memory loss,
headaches, fever, low blood pressure, and birth defects among their newborn children.
During the Gulf War, munitions and armor made with Depleted Uranium
were used for the first time in combat history. Over 940,000 30- millimeter uranium tipped bullets
and "more than 14,000 large caliber DU rounds were consumed during
Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield." (U.S. AEPI Report 1994) These largely untested
weapons were used indiscriminately throughout the siege of Iraq with
no concern for the health and environmental consequences of their use.
Between 300 and 800 tons
of DU bullets are now scattered on the ground in Iraq and Kuwait.
The Pentagon now admits to having fired over 18,000 DU shells in
Bosnia and over 31,000 such shells in Kosovo.
Up to 70% of the depleted uranium within these weapons aerosolizes
on impact and as radioactive dust it is easily ingested. As a result, hundreds
of thousands of people, both victims of war and combat soldiers, have suffered
the effects of exposure to these highly toxic, radioactive weapons.
WHAT IS DU?
DU is a waste product of the process that produces enriched uranium
for use in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants. Much like natural uranium, it is both toxic and
radioactive. Over a billion pounds of DU exists in the United States and
must be safely stored or disposed of by the Department of Energy.
With its half-life of 4.5 billion
years, DU's radioactivity effectively lasts forever.
DU is so abundant the government gives it away to arms manufacturers.
Because it is extremely dense--1.7 times as dense as lead--when turned into a metal DU can be
used to make a shell that easily penetrates steel. In addition it is pyrophoric--that is,
when it strikes steel, heat from the friction causes it to burn.
When DU burns, it spews tiny particles of poisonous and radioactive
uranium oxide in aerosol form, which can then travel for miles in the wind.
Humans can ingest or inhale the small particles.
Even one particle, when lodged in a vital organ--which is
most likely to happen from inhalation-- can cause illnesses from
headaches to cancer.
The Pentagon tested DU shells at various sites around the U.S. and
used it in combat for the first time against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. It was very effective in
destroying Iraqi tanks, as well as their occupants and anyone in the area. At least 600,000 pounds of DU and uranium dust was left around Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
by U.S. and British forces during that war.
Although the U.S. government and military continue to minimize the
environmental and health dangers from depleted- uranium weapons,
even they have to admit these dangers exist.
DU is also considered at least a contributing cause to the 130,000
reported cases of "Gulf War Syndrome." The chronic symptoms of this
ailment range from sharp increases in cancers to memory loss,
chronic pain, fatigue and birth defects in veterans' children.
Dr. Mona Kammas is a professor of pathology at Baghdad University
and director of a study of the environmental impact of U.S. aggression against Iraq.
At the Gijon symposium, she reported on a paper that showed an almost
five-fold increase in cancers, a more than three-fold increase in spontaneous abortions,
and a nearly three-fold increase in congenital anomalies in a study group
of those exposed to combat.
The paper also reported on environmental damage due to the Pentagon's
destruction of the water-supply and sanitation systems and the destruction of oil refineries and
factories that used toxic chemicals in the production process.
Iraqi researchers believe that the different relative frequency of various types
of cancer now as compared with before 1990 in the Basra region was a significant indication
of a major change, and that this pattern continuing long after the war indicated that DU's impact
was long- lasting. " |
