MORE than 14 years after the 1991 Gulf war ended, the majority of soldiers and civilians exposed to depleted uranium from anti-tank munitions can finally sleep a little easier. They are not at seriously increased risk of developing cancer, nor will their children have an inordinately high chance of birth defects, a two-year study by Sandia National Laboratories in the US has found.
Researchers calculated the amount of DU that would have been inhaled, ingested or become embedded under the skin of soldiers in tanks or involved in rescuing tank occupants, classified as Level 1 veterans, as well as civilians downwind of battlefields and children playing in contaminated vehicles. They then compared their predictions of the health effects with actual veteran medical statistics.
"Only a few Level 1 veterans inhaled sufficient quantities of DU to incur about a 1 per cent risk of radiation-induced lung cancer in addition to the risk for someone not exposed to DU," says Albert Marshall of the National Security Studies Department at Sandia. "Also these veterans may have experienced transient kidney damage. Health risks for Iraqi civilians are predicted to be very small, and claims of observable increases in leukaemia and birth defects from DU exposure are not supported by this study."
Depleted uranium has been the material of choice for anti-tank ammunition since the 1970s because of its high density and ability to self-sharpen on impact. An estimated 350 tonnes of it were fired at Iraqi tanks in the 1991 war.
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