Poison DUst: Depleted Uranium Kills, page 2

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It is interesting that the U.S. still insists on using DU, even though the facts have shown it to be very deadly to living organisms. If we are to continue fighting overseas, and in countless battles then I believe that atleast our troops and innocent bystanders should be exempt for death due to our own weapons.Liquid Metal has a possible replacement in the form of its proprietary amorphous metals. It would work excellent as a KEP, and I am sure it could replace DU in most, if not all applications. Thankfully some of the DOD is looking into a replacement.

Comn' we can do better than DU!

A Step back from Sensationalizm :

What is DU and How is it produced ?

WHO:Depleted uranium: sources, exposure and health effects
Executive summary
Uranium is a naturally occurring, ubiquitous, heavy metal found in various chemical forms in all soils, rocks, seas and oceans. It is also present in drinking water and food. On average, approximately 90 μg (micrograms) of uranium exist in the human body from normal intakes of water, food and air; approximately 66% is found in the skeleton, 16% in the liver, 8% in the
kidneys and 10% in other tissues. Natural uranium consists of a mixture of three radioactive isotopes which are identified by the mass numbers 238U(99.27% by mass)[natural Uranium,low radiation], 235U(0.72%)[highly radioactive component] and 234U(0.0054%)[highly radioactive].

Depleted Uranium:
235U content is enriched from 0.72% to about 3%. The uranium remaining after removal of the enriched fraction is referred to as depleted uranium. Depleted uranium typically contains about 99.8% 238U, 0.2% 235U and 0.0006% 234U by mass.
For the same mass, depleted uranium has about 60% of the radioactivity of uranium.
Depleted uranium may also result from the reprocessing of spent nuclear reactor fuel. Under these conditions another uranium isotope, 236U may be present together with very small amounts of the transuranic elements plutonium, americium and neptunium and the fission product technetium-99. The increase in the radiation dose from the trace amounts of these additional elements is less than 1%. This is insignificant with respect to both chemical and radiological toxicity.

From other sources:

Uranium and Depleted Uranium
Depleted Uranium:
Every tonne of natural uranium produced and enriched for use in a nuclear reactor gives about 130 kg of enriched fuel (3.5% or more U-235). The balance is depleted uranium (U-238, with 0.25-0.30% U-235). This major portion has been depleted in its fissile U-235 isotope by the enrichment process. It is commonly known as DU.

DU is stored either as UF6 or it is de-converted back to U3O8, which is more benign chemically and thus more suited for long-term storage. It is also less toxic. Every year over 50,000 tonnes of depleted uranium joins already substantial stockpiles in USA, Europe and Russia. World stock is about 1.2 million tonnes.

Lets learn more of its radioactivity:

Ask The Experts
U238 in and of itself is not very fissile. When bombarded by neutrons released by U235 fission, it absorbs neutrons to become Pu239-- Plutonium.....

Plutonium's primary radioactive decay product is alpha rays. Alpha radiation cannot penetrate a sheet of paper, and human skin is more than enough protection against it. If ingested, breathed in, or if plutonium gets into the blood stream through a wound, then the alpha radiation can cause damage to DNA and increases an individual's chances of acquiring cancer.
Depleted Uranium is 40% less radioactive than natural uranium and, like plutonium, emits primarily alpha radiation

Lets look at the ways by which people can get exposed to DU :

WHO FactSheet on DU

• 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.
  
• A recent United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report giving field measurements taken around selected impact sites in Kosovo (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) indicates that contamination by DU in the environment was localized to a few tens of metres around impact sites. Contamination by DU dusts of local vegetation and water supplies was found to be extremely low. Thus, the probability of significant exposure to local populations was considered to be very low.
  
• A UN expert team reported in November 2002 that they found traces of DU in three locations among 14 sites investigated in Bosnia following NATO airstrikes in 1995. A full report is expected to be published by UNEP in March 2003.
  
• 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.
  
• People near an aircraft crash may be exposed to DU dusts if counterweights are exposed to prolonged intense heat. Significant exposure would be rare, as large masses of DU counterweights are unlikely to ignite and would oxidize only slowly. Exposures of clean-up and emergency workers to DU following aircraft accidents are possible, but normal occupational protection measures would prevent any significant exposure.
  

How long does this DU absorbed stay in the body ?

WHO:Depleted uranium: sources, exposure and health effects
Executive summary
Body retention:
Most (>95%) uranium entering the body is not absorbed, but is eliminated via the faeces. Of the uranium that is absorbed into the blood, approximately 67% will be filtered by the kidney and excreted in the urine in 24 hours.
Typically between 0.2 and 2% of the uranium in food and water is absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. Soluble uranium compounds are more readily absorbed than those which are insoluble.

What about the other effects of DU ??

Uranium and Depleted Uranium
Like most radionuclides, it[DU] is not known as a carcinogen, or to cause birth defects (from effects in utero) or to cause genetic mutations. Radiation from DU munitions depends on how long the uranium has been separated chemically from its decay products. If thorium-234 and protactinium-234 has built up through decay of U-238, these will give rise to some beta emissions. On this basis, DU is "weakly radioactive" with an activity of 39 kBq/g quoted (15 kBq/g if pure, compared with 25 kBq/g for pure natural uranium).

And what of the DU effects in Kosovo and GWI ?

In 2001 the UN Environment Program examined the effects of nine tonnes of DU munitions having been used in Kosovo, checking the sites targeted by it. UNEP found no widespread contamination, no sign of contamination in water of the food chain and no correlation with reported ill-health in NATO peacekeepers. A two-year study by Sandia National Laboratories in USA reported in 2005 that consistent with earlier studies, reports of serious health risks from DU exposure during the 1991 Gulf War are not supported by medical statistics or by analysis.

More resources: Austalasian Radiation Protection Society
National Radiation Protection Board(UK)

Lets look at Natural Sources Of Radiation too:

Source : Radioactivity in Nature- ISU

In Conclusion:
IS DU harmfull? Definitely, but it is just as harmfull as any other battlefield weapon/explosive that is used in war by a military.
Suppose the military were to use a conventional bomb it would also release toxic gasses which if inhaled will damage the lungs, many explosives leave harmfull compunds after combustion that if ingested could be lethal etc. Reckless handling of any type of weapon can be dangerous to human health, DU is no different. It needs to handled with due caution and the level of awareness to its effects, just the same as the effects of inhaling lot of sulphor di-oxide, NO3, phosphor dust etc. They are all harmfull and can be lethal in large amounts.

Who is to blame?
Is it justified to blame DU for childern playing in smoking ruins or DU sharpnel piercing soldiers ? The answer is no. A war zone will always be littered with dangerous munitions and compounds if DU is used or not. IF not DU kids will be exposed to other compounds.

Can we blame the people who make DU, i.e nuclear plants? There are vital to our way of life because of the amount of energy they supply. Then can we blame the people who make these weapons or the people who use these weapons? The makers will always make them regardless when there is a demand, a demand that is created by the people who use these weapons, i.e soldiers. These soldiers need weapons. We can give them the same old weapons that the rest of the world is using and watch a bloodbath of our fellow countrymen and women as they fight agonizing wars of attrition ala Vietnam. Or we can give them the weapons they need to do their job as quickly and effeciently as possible so that they can sweiftly cripple our enemies ability to wage war thereby saving lives of our soldiers. Can we deny them this ability if has the potential to save lives and expedite war ? NO.

If we can put the blame on anything it is 'IGNORANCE'.
Ignorance of our soldiers in dealing with DU munitions and in operating DU armoured vehicles. Ignorance in the stoaring and transport of DU munitions. Ignorance amongst the civilians about the dangerous of DU. Ignorance amogst ourselves about what really is DU and its effects and also ignorance amongst the medical/quasi-scientific bodies in understanding DU.

DENY IGNORANCE !


IAF

*edit to add links and correct boldness errors
Other links that might be interesting:
Radiation Sickness
Effects of Radiation on the Human Body
WHO documents on DU


[edit on 28-2-2006 by IAF101]

Originally posted by IAF101

You’re just mad that someone came up with equally convincing stuff !

Dont be.

Nahh. I don't ge mad - and I haven't thought about this for a long time. Just bumped it on a whim.

IMO - the USA, Britain, France and a few more powers pretty much own the WHO and UN - we're looking at spin, misinfo and disinfo there. All about avoiding liability.

But how do you explain this stuff?


What does DU poisoning do to children?

Leuren Moret reports, "In my research on depleted uranium during the past 5 years, the most disturbing information concerns the impact on the unborn children and future generations for both soldiers serving in the depleted uranium wars, and for the civilians who must live in the permanently radioactive contaminated regions.

...Today, more than 240,000 Gulf War veterans are on permanent medical disability and more than 11,000 are dead. They have been denied testing, medical care, and compensation for depleted uranium exposure and related illnesses since 1991."

Moret continues "Even worse, they brought it home in their bodies. In some families, the children born before the Gulf War are the only healthy members. Wives and female partners of Gulf War veterans have reported a condition known as burning semen syndrome, and are now internally contaminated from depleted uranium carried in the semen of exposed veterans. Many are reporting reproductive illnesses such as endometriosis.

...In a U.S. government study, conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs on post-Gulf War babies, 67% were found to have serious birth defects or serious illnesses. They were born without eyes (anophthalmos), ears, had missing organs, missing legs and arms, fused fingers, thyroid or other organ malformations."

High Uranium Levels Found in Troops and Civilians

Do innocent civilians and children get DU poisoning?

In 2003 scientists from the Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC) studied urine samples of Afghan civilians and found that 100% of the samples taken had levels of non-depleted uranium (NDU) 400% to 2000% higher than normal levels. ...The civilians were tested four months after the attacks in Afghanistan by the United States and its allies.

High Uranium Levels Found in Troops and Civilians

......

"At a meeting of the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan held December 2003 in Tokyo, the U.S. was indicted for multiple war crimes in Afghanistan, among them the use of DU. Leuren Moret, President of Scientists for Indigenous People and Environmental Commissioner for the City of Berkeley, testified that because radioactive contaminants from uranium weapons travel through air, water, and food sources, the effects of U.S. deployment in Afghanistan will be felt in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China and India. Countries affected by the use of uranium weapons in Iraq include Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, and Iran."

High Uranium Levels Found in Troops and Civilians

UPDATE BY BOB NICHOLS: (Oklahoma City) Throughout the world people are familiar with the "smoking gun" solution so prized by murder mystery writers. Many think that once the smoking gun in any mystery is discovered, it is time for the "bad guys" to give up. Wish it were only so.

The smoking guns are Sgt. Hector Vega, Sgt. Ray Ramos, Sgt. Agustin Matos and Cpl. Anthony Yonnone from New York's 442nd Guard Unit—they are the first confirmed cases of inhaled uranium oxide exposure from the current Iraq conflict. Dr. Asaf Durokovic, professor of Nuclear Medicine at the Uranium Medical Research Centre www.umrc.net... conducted the diagnostic tests. The story was released April 3, 2004 in the New York Daily News. There is no treatment and there is no cure. www.nydailynews.com...

Leuren Moret reports, "In my research on depleted uranium during the past 5 years, the most disturbing information concerns the impact on the unborn children and future generations for both soldiers serving in the depleted uranium wars, and for the civilians who must live in the permanently radioactive contaminated regions. Today, more than 240,000 Gulf War veterans are on permanent medical disability and more than 11,000 are dead. They have been denied testing, medical care, and compensation for depleted uranium exposure and related illnesses since 1991."

Moret continues "Even worse, they brought it home in their bodies. In some families, the children born before the Gulf War are the only healthy members. Wives and female partners of Gulf War veterans have reported a condition known as burning semen syndrome, and are now internally contaminated from depleted uranium carried in the semen of exposed veterans. Many are reporting reproductive illnesses such as endometriosis. In a U.S. government study, conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs on post-Gulf War babies, 67% were found to have serious birth defects or serious illnesses. They were born without eyes (anophthalmos), ears, had missing organs, missing legs and arms, fused fingers, thyroid or other organ malformations."

"LIFE Photoessay:"
www.life.com...

Moret concludes, "In Iraq it is even worse where babies are born without brains, organs are outside the body, or women give birth to pieces of flesh. In babies born in Iraq in 2002, the incidence of anophthalmos was 250,000 times greater (20 cases in 4,000 births) than the natural occurrence, one in 50 million births. Takashi MORIZUMI's photos: in www.savewarchildren.org... record the tragedy in Iraq."

For more information on the American President's continuing campaign of contaminating the land, check the World Uranium Weapons Conference, www.uraniumweaponsconference.de... ,
Check the Uranium Medical Research Center and Dr. Asaf Durakovic at www.umrc.net... ,
and for updates on the related Nuclear Power Plants see Russell Hoffman's website at: www.animatedsoftware.com... .

www.projectcensored.org...

It is genocidal. Our govt. is worse than the Nazis. Far worse. This is because the Nazis were simply murdering innocent civilians, which was horrible enough. What is happening to these people (both innocent Iraqis and US, British and other military) is not simply inhuman it is anti-human. It would be far more humane to simply sterilize the population than to damage them such that the women bear children without eyes or without limbs or with organs outside their bodies, or deformed limbs growing out of their backs, etc.

The repeated govt. denials of the effects of DU are worse than Holocaust denials because the Holocaust is a past event while this event continues to unfold before our eyes and our misleaders continue to sow future destruction by using DU while they know full well what is happening and the cause.

Originally posted by soficrow
IMO - the USA, Britain, France and a few more powers pretty much own the WHO and UN - we're looking at spin, misinfo and disinfo there. All about avoiding liability.

Well that is possible if they really wanted to desperately.
IF I were a general in the Pentagon, I would seriously be concerned if DU was indeed so crippling. As the military, their job would be to see that America will be able to defend its shores for the foreseeable future and if all my good soldiers are able to get deformed kids, then the credible level of military detterent in terms of land forces will be severly compramised in a decade or so. That would be indeed worring to the Pentagon, if they want to keep protecting this country.
As for the WHO/UN it would be possible for it to be "taken over" but I doubt it.

or serious illnesses. They were born without eyes (anophthalmos), ears, had missing organs, missing legs and arms, fused fingers, thyroid or other organ malformations."
High Uranium Levels Found in Troops and Civilians

I dont know about this source but the accusations of these deformed kids being born is somewhat puzzling. For one thing, even in Hiroshima/Nagasaki the number of people who had these deformed babies was very less because for the population to be effected so completely in the cellular level would mean extreme exposure that would kill most people.
Anyway, from the Radiation poisoning article in my above post, it is said that radiation poisoning effects the testes and tends to cause sterility. Also as for absorption, most of these radioactive particles get accumulate in the lungs and kidneys. I would think that this would imply that the chance of passing on any radionuclei would be minimal, with the difficulties in procreation and also with radiative particles getting saturated in those organs. Though these might cause damage to the individual, effecting the embryo is very unlikely. Such kind of "mutations" would require massive amounts of exposure and over prolonged periods, something like Chernobyl, to cause these kind of deformations. I doubt the situation could ever be so bad to cause such deformities no matter how much DU the military uses. Some level of thyroid failures etc would be understandable but not deformed offspring.

I recognize that GWI is a big concern but the role of DU in this has not been proved or even thought as a probable cause. The entire GWI has so many symptoms and ailments that medical scientists are still perplexed as to the exact cause/causes for such an assortment of symptoms. These vary so greatly that while one member of a tank crew might complain of fatigue, thyroid failure etc while another from the same tank crew could be absolutely fine. So this study is still going on and thought some doctors have spoken about it, I would think that it would be their best guess and not their educated opinion.


[edit on 1-3-2006 by IAF101]

Originally posted by soficrow
FYI - You need to go back to Environmental Health Perspectives. Takes a LOT more than 15 minutes to scan their offerings - and you clearly missed the most basic basics.

You are right, I didnt read it now. In fact I didnt even click on it. I did though read through that source for my answers on this thread.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Sorry !!

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
It funny how some people make DU seem like weapons grade uranium

What an oxymoron! It is IN FACT uranium and it is IN FACT used as a weapon. Do you mean it must be fissionable in order to be considered by you to be a threat to human health?

The fact is DU is only slightly more radioactive then natural uranium which is found all over the planet.

All uranium is natural as it is an element. Are you saying we shouldn't concern ourselves because it's not U 235 but U 238? Let me suggest to you that once you inhale oxidized U 238 and it lodges in your lungs and migrates to your organs and then permanently to your bone marrow (where your body creates the white blood cells that protect you from infections) you won't much care that it's less intensely radioactive than U 235. There is no treatment for uranium poisoning. Goodbye immune system. Hello horrible death.

This was in the Herald last Sunday:

The use of DU has also led to birth defects in the children of Allied veterans and is believed to be the cause of the 'worrying number of anophthalmos cases -- babies born without eyes' in Iraq. Only one in 50 million births should be anophthalmic, yet one Baghdad hospital had eight cases in just two years. Seven of the fathers had been exposed to American DU anti-tank rounds in 1991. There have also been cases of Iraqi babies born without the crowns of their skulls, a deformity also linked to DU shelling.

A study of Gulf war veterans showed that 67% had children with severe illnesses, missing eyes, blood infections, respiratory problems and fused fingers.

www.sundayherald.com...

Hmmm, babies without eyes or skulls ... now that's sounds like something a parent can look forward to. But there's actually nothing "funny" about it when you see the photo's of the still-born infants with gross deformities, or worse, live born infants with grotesque deformities. Your glib dismissal of this monstrous situation is deplorable. It is typical of the Neocon apologists who either deny the world is round or blame the fact they wish to avoid on someone else - even the scientists.

Is it bad if you breath in particles of DU you bet but its also bad if you breath in particles of lead. Lead also poisons the environment, causes birth defects and all other nasty stuff.

Yeah, right. But lead isn't radioactive for 4.5 million years, it isn't pyrophoric, it doesn't become aersolized as it burns and disperse into the air in microscopic particles suitable for being blown around in desert sands and across the sea, and between 2,000 to 10,000 tons of it weren't spewed over Iraq in the past few years.

But guess what people arent going to stop using lead in bullets and littering the enviroment with deadly lead either.

Ho dee ho, hum dee hum pal. Why bother hitting the 'post reply' button with tripe like that?

DU rounds are far better then the other choice Tungsten which mushrooms on impact which is not good for penetration. DU on the other hand self sharpens on impact. They aint going to stop using DU or lead

You make DU sound so palatable. They 'ain't gonna stop using DU or lead' so let 'em spew that DU all over the planet. Yeah, sure, ya betcha. And by that illogic I guess anything goes.

And the good news is that this wonderful stuff the Pentagon calls 'depleted' uranium with that 4.5 billion year shelf-life is now assailing the British Isles all the way from Iraq! Enjoy your kippers everyone.

www.timesonline.co.uk...:

[edit on 1-3-2006 by seattlelaw]

Here's a link for a flash presentation on the horrors of the stuff.
Poisonous Legacy
Just be warned its kind of graphic and it just starts playing.
If it doesn't leave you scarred, or scared, nothing will bother you.
You can also sign a petition to ban it here as well. You just have to wait until the end of the movie.

Greenpeace has a campaign right now on it. Check out their website
Greenpeace Homepage
Virtual Flotilla to Stop Plutonium

Ive signed several petitions to get this crud banned. Regardless of whether it's millions or billions of years for its half life, its still too long to be around, period. In the middle east, you have little kids using the cases of the rounds as forts and other crap. Adults can control what they do, but little kids dont know any better. They just pick it up and play with it.

The amounts of birth defects running rampant are mainly caused by this crap, and I know all too many of my fellow soldiers coming home with the "GULF WAR SYNDROME". The birth defects are atrocious. SOme of the children look like they were chemically burned in utero.

I could go on and on about the horrors of this stuff, governments need to just leave it alone.

Despite numerous assertions of congenital deformities in babies being caused by DU the very nature of such radiation and its properties would defy the science behind DU radiation which being primarily alpha in nature.

As for the influence of radiation in the progeny of those effected, the effects that this would have on the fetus are varied and sometimes the effects of genetic damage do not present themselves until a few generations later. The entire assumption that DU trapped in the lungs would somehow get into the blood stream and deposit itself into the bones, altering the genetic makeup of blood is far fetched to say the least. Medical Science has little evidence of such behavior of DU in its study of Radiation on both man and animals. The Effect of radiation on genetic material is also dose-related, with the dose range depending on the rate of damage and the sensitivity of individual genetic material respectively.

Fetuses from mothers exposed to radiation above the 150rad range have shown through epidemiological studies to have an impact on the fetus. These effects being, the occurrences of cancers in the thyroid, brain, spinal cord, and etc leukemia and in some cases birth deformities, infant mortality, changes in the sex ratio, still birth etc. Through statistical extrapolation the children born after the Hiroshima explosion have shown a greater propensity to cataract, tumors, leukemia etc while had very few cases of still and deformed births. Statistically it would be difficult to identify this as solely radiative damage of fetus. Also at one time in Hiroshima it was though that there was a change in the sex ratio but this was found untrue. The Science in the field has little knowledge on the exact nature and working of low intensity radiative damage on genetic material and most of the data available is through statistical sampling. The absence of any observed data could also be attributed to the heterogeneity of man. Until further sampling is done on man and animals any conclusion can be at best speculative.

Radiation Pollution of the Environment-Dr.Joseph Rotblat and Dr.Patricia Lindop, Conference on Science and World Affairs-

IAF

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