Somebody is lying and/or intentionally misinforming us.
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
The US-led military coalition that fought
the 1991 Gulf War is reported to have
used about 300 tons of ammunition containing
depleted uranium (DU) against
Iraqi tanks and other armored vehicles.
During the 1999 war in the Balkans, NATO
forces used about 11 tons of DU in missiles
that were fired into the former Yugoslavia.1
DU weapons have military utility because the
density and tensile strength of uranium
(which is relatively cheap and abundant) give
it unusual armor-piercing capabilities.
Concerns about the potential health effects of
DU weapons arise primarily from immediate
and long term uranium contamination in the
areas where they are used. On penetration,
for example, about 20% of the DU burns spontaneously,
creating a fine aerosol smoke of
uranium oxide that can be easily inhaled and
lodge itself in the lungs. Fragments of DU
weapons are scattered around battlefields,
and can become embedded as shrapnel in
human and animal flesh.
In the months and years following both
of these armed conflicts, a large number of
soldiers, UN peacekeepers, and civilians
have exhibited unexpected and unexplained
health problems, including excess leukemias
and other cancers, neurological disorders,
birth defects, and a constellation of symptoms
loosely gathered under the rubric “Gulf
War Illnesses.” Depleted uranium, because of
its radioactivity and chemical toxicity, has
been linked to these acute health effects in the
press and in public forums. Some opponents
of DU weapons have categorically asserted
that exposure to depleted uranium is the
direct cause of these excess cancers. US and
NATO officials, citing the published research
on the health effects of uranium, have dismissed
DU as a potential cause of the acute
health effects for which it has been blamed.
Full report: www.ippnw.org/pdf/mgs/7-1-ippnw-depleted-uranium.pdf
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
The US-led military coalition that fought
the 1991 Gulf War is reported to have
used about 300 tons of ammunition containing
depleted uranium (DU) against
Iraqi tanks and other armored vehicles.
During the 1999 war in the Balkans, NATO
forces used about 11 tons of DU in missiles
that were fired into the former Yugoslavia.1
DU weapons have military utility because the
density and tensile strength of uranium
(which is relatively cheap and abundant) give
it unusual armor-piercing capabilities.
Concerns about the potential health effects of
DU weapons arise primarily from immediate
and long term uranium contamination in the
areas where they are used. On penetration,
for example, about 20% of the DU burns spontaneously,
creating a fine aerosol smoke of
uranium oxide that can be easily inhaled and
lodge itself in the lungs. Fragments of DU
weapons are scattered around battlefields,
and can become embedded as shrapnel in
human and animal flesh.
In the months and years following both
of these armed conflicts, a large number of
soldiers, UN peacekeepers, and civilians
have exhibited unexpected and unexplained
health problems, including excess leukemias
and other cancers, neurological disorders,
birth defects, and a constellation of symptoms
loosely gathered under the rubric “Gulf
War Illnesses.” Depleted uranium, because of
its radioactivity and chemical toxicity, has
been linked to these acute health effects in the
press and in public forums. Some opponents
of DU weapons have categorically asserted
that exposure to depleted uranium is the
direct cause of these excess cancers. US and
NATO officials, citing the published research
on the health effects of uranium, have dismissed
DU as a potential cause of the acute
health effects for which it has been blamed.
Full report: www.ippnw.org/pdf/mgs/7-1-ippnw-depleted-uranium.pdf
