- Depleted uranium, or DU, is a radioactive heavy metal
left over when the radioactive isotope uranium-235 is taken from naturally
occurring uranium to fuel nuclear power stations and build nuclear bombs.
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- This cheap and plentiful by-product is almost twice as
dense as lead. It is valued by armies for its ability to punch through
armoured vehicles. A report by the US Army Environmental Policy Institute
said that DU had both chemical and radiological toxicity. It concluded
that on the battlefield there were many hazards, against which the DU risk
was small.
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- The risk is greatest from ingesting DU or inhaling particles.
DU poses a great threat to the kidneys, where high concentrations can lead
to organ failure. There is also a radiological hazard, mostly due to short
range alpha and beta radiation that can cause DNA damage and thus, in theory,
lead to cancer.
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- The amount is about 200,000 times less than the radium
in instrument dials of Soviet tanks used by Iraq and 30 million times less
than the americium in smoke detectors. The links between cancer and DU
are tenuous, said Dr Michael Clark, of the National Radiological Protection
Board. Cancer normally takes years to develop after exposure.
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- The chemical hazard of DU was much greater than the radiological
hazard, so one would expect cancer cases to be accompanied by kidney problems.
The US Defence Department said exposure that could cause radiation-related
problems was "thousands of times more than the exposure that could
cause heavy metal toxicity symptoms". Around 15 veterans with embedded
DU fragments have not so far shown health problems.
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