Vietnam
War
Persian
Gulf War
Global
War On Terror
PTSD Exposure to Depleted Uranium
Military
uses of depleted uranium (DU) include defensive armor plating and armor-piercing
projectiles. DU munitions are controversial because of unanswered questions
about potential long-term health effects.
When DU munitions penetrate armor or burn, they create depleted uranium
oxides in the form of dust that can be inhaled or contaminate wounds.
Additionally, fragments of munitions or armor can become embedded in
the body.
Health effects of DU are determined by factors such as the extent of
exposure and whether it was internal or external.
Increased rates of immune-system disorders and other wide-ranging symptoms,
including chronic pain, fatigue, and memory loss, have been reported
in over one quarter of combat veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War,
who were found to have up to 14 times the usual level of chromosome abnormalities
in their genes.
DU is less toxic than other heavy metals, such as arsenic and mercury,
and is only very weakly radioactive because of its long half-life. While
any radiation exposure has risks, no conclusive epidemiological data
have correlated DU exposure to specific human health effects, such as
cancer. However, studies using cultured cells and laboratory rodents
continue to suggest leukemogenic, genetic, reproductive, and neurological
effects from chronic exposure.
A 2005 epidemiology review concluded: "In aggregate the human epidemiological
evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring
of persons exposed to DU.”
A 2001 study of 15,000 February 1991 U.S. Gulf War combat veterans and
15,000 control veterans found the Gulf War veterans were 1.8 (fathers)
to 2.8 (mothers) times more likely to have children with birth defects,
and after examination of their children's medical records two years later,
the birth defect rate increased by more than 20 percent.
Veterans who may be at a higher risk include those who have internally
retained fragments of DU from shrapnel wounds. A laboratory study on
rats produced by the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute showed
that, after a study period of 6 months, rats treated with depleted uranium
coming from implanted pellets, comparable to the average levels in the
urine of Desert Storm veterans with retained DU fragments, had developed
a significant tendency to lose weight with respect to the control group.
In addition, substantial amounts of uranium were accumulating in their
brains and central nervous systems and showed a significant reduction
of neuronal activity in the hippocampus in response to external stimuli.
The conclusions of the study show that brain damage from chronic uranium
intoxication is possible at lower doses than previously thought. Results
from computer-based neuro-cognitive tests performed in 1997 showed an
association between uranium in the urine and "problematic performance
on automated tests assessing performance efficiency and accuracy."
Despite the information presented above, however, a number of other scientific
studies have concluded that DU ammunition has no measurable detrimental
health effects.