Depleted uranium tests for US troops returning from Iraq

[cal04]

US troops returning from Iraq are for the first time to be offered state-of-the-art radiation testing to check for contamination from depleted uranium - a controversial substance linked by some to cancer and birth defects. Campaigners say the Pentagon refuses to take seriously the issue of poisoning from depleted uranium (DU) and offers only the most basic checks, and only when it is specifically asked for. But state legislators across the US are pushing ahead with laws that will provide their National Guard troops access to the most sophisticated tests.

Connecticut and Louisiana have already passed such legislation and another 18 are said to be considering similar steps. Connecticut's new law - pioneered by state legislator Pat Dillon - comes into effect on Saturday. "What this does is establish a standard," said Mrs Dillon, a Yale-trained epidemiologist. "It means that our Guardsmen will have access to highly sensitive testing that can differentiate between background levels of radiation." DU - a heavy metal waste-product of nuclear power plants - has been used by the US military since the 1991 Gulf War. It is used to tip tank shells and missiles because of its ability to penetrate armour. On impact DU burns at an extremely high temperature and is widely dispersed in micro particles.

The science surrounding DU remains hotly contested though the majority of studies have concluded there is no genuine risk from battlefield contamination. One 2001 study by the Royal Society, concluded: "Except in extreme circumstances any extra risks of developing fatal cancers as a result of radiation from internal exposure to DU arising from battlefield conditions are likely to be so small that they would not be detectable above the general risk of dying from cancer over a normal lifetime."

But, campaigners such as the British-based Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (CADU), cite other studies which suggest a risk. In 2003,New Scientist reported that a study by the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, found that human bone cells could suffer genetic damage when exposed to DU, even at levels deemed to be non-toxic.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article315508.ece

[nosmokes]

1. and what about the iraqis that will be living withDU

exposure for a few decades to come? and i thought DU munitions were illegal under international law? anyone know anything about that for sure?

[IndianaGreen]

2. Are the results going to be published or...

are the troops going to be lied to as the troops the US used during the atomic tests?

[gumby]

3. "controversial substance "?

Tell that to all the Gulf War I vets who have suffered and died. Tell that to all the birth defects in Iraq and in vets families.

The war in Iraq IS nuke-you-ler.

[Massacure]

4. DU is a highly toxic substance.

It is funny how people argue whether or not it is radioactive enough to cause damage, when more often than not it is the chemical toxicity that is causing the trouble, much to the same effect as lead, mercury, and other heavy metals.

The pentagon replaced lead in an effort to be more 'environmentally friendly' and replaced it with DU, which is just as toxic but packs much more oomph. I wouldn't hire the Pentagon to do any cooking, all they can make is a crock of shit.

[slay]

5. Gulf War Syndrome anyone?

Depleted Uranium could very well turn out to be a huge "weapon of mass destruction" which we used on the Iraqi people - and infected our own soldiers with. The thing about the DU problem is that it can take years to do the damage. Just imagine walking around with tiny radioactive particles in your lungs for the rest of your life. That's what a lot of our soldiers will be facing. Not to mention the Iraqi people. :(