NewsMine — deceptions — war-syndrome — Viewing Item

Us rejects du clean up { April 14 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2946715.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2946715.stm Last Updated: Monday, 14 April, 2003, 14:55 GMT 15:55 UK US rejects Iraq DU clean-up By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent The US says it has no plans to remove the debris left over from depleted uranium (DU) weapons it is using in Iraq. It says no clean-up is needed, because research shows DU has no long-term effects. It says a 1990 study suggesting health risks to local people and veterans is out of date. A United Nations study found DU contaminating air and water seven years after it was used. DU, left over after natural uranium has been enriched, is 1.7 times denser than lead, and very effective for punching through armoured vehicles. When a weapon with a DU tip or core strikes a solid object, like the side of a tank, it goes straight through before erupting in a burning cloud of vapour. This settles as chemically poisonous and radioactive dust. Risk studies Both the US and the UK acknowledge the dust can be dangerous if inhaled, though they say the danger is short-lived, localised, and much more likely to lead to chemical poisoning than to irradiation. One thing we've found in these various studies is that there are no long-term effects from DU Lieutenant-Colonel David Lapan, Pentagon spokesman But a study prepared for the US Army in July 1990, a month before Iraq invaded Kuwait, says: "The health risks associated with internal and external DU exposure during combat conditions are certainly far less than other combat-related risks. "Following combat, however, the condition of the battlefield and the long-term health risks to natives and combat veterans may become issues in the acceptability of the continued use of DU." A Pentagon spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel David Lapan, told BBC News Online: "Since then there've been a number of studies - by the UK's Royal Society and the World Health Organisation, for example - into the health risks of DU, or the lack of them. "It's fair to say the 1990 study has been overtaken by them. One thing we've found in these various studies is that there are no long-term effects from DU. "And given that, I don't believe we have any plans for a DU clean-up in Iraq." Part of the armoury The UN Environment Programme study, published in March 2003, found DU in air and groundwater in Bosnia-Herzegovina seven years after the weapons were fired. The UN says the existing data suggest it is "highly unlikely" DU could be linked to any of the health problems reported. But it recommends collecting DU fragments, covering contaminated points with asphalt or clean soil, and keeping records of contaminated sites. Reports from Baghdad speak of repeated attacks by US aircraft carrying DU weapons on high-rise buildings in the city centre. The UK says: "British forces on deployment to the Gulf have DU munitions available as part of their armoury, and will use them if necessary." It will not confirm they have used them. Many veterans from the Gulf and Kosovo wars believe DU has made them seriously ill. One UK Gulf veteran is Ray Bristow, a former marathon runner. In 1999 he told the BBC: "I gradually noticed that every time I went out for a run my distance got shorter and shorter, my recovery time longer and longer. "Now, on my good days, I get around quite adequately with a walking stick, so long as it's short distances. Any further, and I need to be pushed in a wheelchair." Ray Bristow was tested in Canada for DU. He is open-minded about its role in his condition. But he says: "I remained in Saudi Arabia throughout the war. I never once went into Iraq or Kuwait, where these munitions were used. "But the tests showed, in layman's terms, that I have been exposed to over 100 times an individual's safe annual exposure to depleted uranium." Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/2946715.stm Published: 2003/04/14 14:55:26 © BBC MMIII

2003 2004 balkins Congressional call to study effects of depleted uranium { May 17 2005 } Death by du Depleted uranium toxicity { May 2 2003 } Drug resistanct bacteria in iraq soil infecting soldiers Du vieques { February 4 2001 } Ecstasy given to american soldiers { February 17 2005 } Gulf illness scare blamed on chemical warfare agents { June 11 2004 } Gulf veterans threat { September 4 2000 } Gulf war sick european chemicals { January 18 2003 } Gulf war veteran syndrome Gulf war veterans testes { January 10 2003 } Iraq links cancer to uranium { January 13 2003 } Iraqi doctors blame cancer on depleted uranium { August 17 2003 } Military uses { March 18 2003 } Mushrooming depleted uranium scandal blamed Npr covers du Sick gulf war vets sue companies banks Soldiers exposed to depleted uranium { April 15 2007 } Us covering up depleted uranium Us nukes its own troops Us rejects du clean up { April 14 2003 } Vieques cancer rates higher than puerto ricos { May 10 2003 } Files Listed: 22

Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security Archives

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.