SOIL in the Gulf and the Balkans that's contaminated with debris from spent depleted uranium weapons presents far too high a risk to local children, an Italian study confirms. Playing in the soil dramatically raises the children's chances of getting cancer and kidney damage.

This is just one conclusion from a clutch of new studies into the safety or otherwise of DU, which the military uses in shells designed to pierce the armour plating of tanks.

The Italian team says that children living in areas of conflict that have been bombarded with DU could get a dose of radiation above the internationally recognised safety limit. Breathing in particles of the toxic heavy metal could also interfere with kidney function.

Some 270 tonnes of DU have been spread over battlefields in the Gulf and the Balkans during the last decade, the vast majority by US forces.

The trouble starts when the ...