Can Depleted Uranium Cause Cancer?
The Controversy of Health Effects By Radioactive DU War Weaponry
Sep 25, 2009
The United States is the world’s largest manufacturer of weapons, both conventional and nuclear. The arms industry is the biggest manufacturing industry in the US and the most controversial. The use and sale of depleted uranium (DU) weaponry brims with controversy, propaganda, suspicion, preemptive statements, denial and myths. There is yet little research and information on the long term effects of DU on health.
What is Depleted Uranium?
Depleted uranium is a waste byproduct of a process called uranium enrichment in nuclear reactors. DU contains three times less Uranium-235 isotope and is 40% less radioactive than natural uranium. It is twice as dense as lead and combined with other metals makes an unstoppable penetrator on weaponry and barrier on body armor, tanks and fighter jets.
Depleted uranium is considered ‘weakly radioactive’ and has an average half-life of 4.5 billion years. In comparison, plutonium which has a half-life of 24,000 years is lethal in even very small amounts. A shorter half-life means higher radiation and more potential to harm human cells.
Can Uranium Radioactivity Cause Cancers?
The effects on health of depleted uranium in weaponry is a controversial subject that requires further study and long-term documentation. A British military doctor at a recent symposium on the medical consequences of war, held at the Royal Society of Medicine (London UK, September 2009), stated: “There is no evidence that depleted uranium used in weaponry has caused an increase in cancer incidences in Iraq. Reports of radioactivity and an increase in reported cases of cancer may be anecdotal.” Other organizations, including the Pentagon, have similarly stated that depleted uranium is not carcinogenic and does not cause other health defects.
After an audience member noted that it is known that depleted uranium is a poisonous heavy metal, the speaker from the British military acknowledged that the use of such weaponry caused, “contamination of the surrounding soil and water in immediate areas of weapon impact.”
Uranium is also used in protective military gear and to coat conventional weaponry and in other equipment. However, when it is used in weapon, the DU missile tip or coating used on ammunition rounds, may disintegrate on penetration and explosion of a target and disperse microscopically in the air. These particles are carried in water, soil and may be inhaled or ingested which may alter radiation dose.
A study published by The Institute of Radiation Protection found a dramatic increase of uranium leaching from corroding weaponry fragments, three years after they were used in the Balkans. Hence, it is difficult to predict the long term effects of DU used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Increase of the incidences of leukemia and other cancers in areas of war and battle may also have several responsible causes.
Depleted uranium munitions have been used in Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Iraq and Afghanistan. Current studies on health and environmental effects have largely taken place in the Balkans, however, 12 metric tons of depleted uranium was used in that entire area, compared to 300 metric tons used in the 1991 Persian Gulf war. Far more has been used in the current Iraq war.
Depleted Uranium Fragments and Particles In Soil And Water
According to geochemist Vala Ragnarsdottir from the University of Bristol, “In Iraq, many hard targets were hit and therefore DU dust was produced, which still could be blowing around. I think that DU water pollution is likely to occur with time.” Ragnarsdottir was one of 17 scientists selected by the UN to conduct field assessments of depleted uranium in the Balkans in 2000.
In addition to cancers, several other health effects are thought to be linked to human exposure to radiation from depleted uranium, including birth defects. The main radiation hazard from uranium compounds occurs when uranium particles are ingested or inhaled, as may arise when they seep into water, soil and air after being used in explosive weaponry. This contamination may occur after several years, decades and even generations or may accumulate over time.
Cancer caused by radiation is generally not distinguishable from cancers due to other factors and may occur years after the exposure takes place. The probability of developing radiation induced cancer increases with increased uranium intake and how much uranium is fired on a populated area.
Apart from the US, other nations including the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Taiwan, South Korea, Pakistan and Japan manufacture or purchase depleted uranium weaponry.
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