[Depleted uranium is an issue that is still emerging. It was first introduced as a health issue by Robert Fisk and has been embraced by some serious groups and a handful of energetic cranks and crackpots. Progress has been especially slow because of the indifference militaries worldwide seem to have toward the health of former soldiers. Genetic damage from ionizing radiation has never had the kind of epidemiological support that would be needed to act on Fisk's anecdotal alarms. Advances in molecular biology are changing that, but slowly. The Basra Epidemiological Study continues to be a responsible scientific project in need of money and moral support. Few even know about it. Farlie's article includes 60 footnotes. It first appeared in UNIDIR's journal 'Disarmament Forum' in October 2008. -jlt]
For over two decades, there has been considerable public debate about the health effects of depleted uranium (DU). Military services in many countries use depleted uranium in munitions and to strengthen armour in vehicles. This is because uranium is a very dense metal (approximately 70% more dense than lead), which is useful in a military context—and the chemical and physical properties of natural uranium metal and DU metal are very similar. DU alloys are very hard and pyrophoric, properties which make them superior to tungsten armour-piercing munitions. DU armour-plating is also more resistant to penetration by conventional anti-tank munitions. DU munitions were first used extensively in the First Gulf War (1991), in Bosnia (1995) and Kosovo (1999), and continue to be used in Iraq since 2003 and perhaps in Afghanistan since 2002.
Read the whole study => (PDF, 14pp)
Some related documents from ICBUW:
Depleted uranium: The next target for disarmament? October 22, 2008
Report from the UN seminar 'Banning Uranium Weapons - legal avenues and political cul-de-sacs'. October 10, 2008.
Legal/Political Supporting texts from 'Banning Uranium Weapons' seminar, UN Oct 8th 2008.
European Parliament Issues Statement to UN Delegations, October 8, 2008.
Scientific Supporting texts from 'Banning Uranium Weapons' seminar, UN Oct 8th 2008.Recommend this Post
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Ian Fairlie, "The health hazards of uranium weapons," Disarmament Forum, October 22, 2008.
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2 comments:
Nothing like propaganda and lies. None of the UN's own scientific organizations have found any health effects from depleted uranium. They even milked the cows in Kosovo and still found nothing. A good place to start learning about the international research efforts is the excellent article by Mario Burger
The Risks of Depleted Uranium Contamination Post-Conflict: UNEP Assessments by Mario Burger
Director of Swiss Testing Lab Summarizes UNEP and IAEA Post Conflict DU Field and Laboratory Testing
http://www.unidir.ch/pdf/articles/pdf-art2760.pdf
http://www.labor-spiez.ch/en/dok/hi/pdf/depleted_uranium_en_kurz.pdf
So you are the folks who invited the notorious fraud Leuren Moret to Kootenay -- how much did you have to pay her to come? I know that you held a benefit concert. What suckers you are, I guess you have more money than you need. Why not raise money for something real instead of subscribing to the fantasy ravings of a lunatic. I want your newspaper editor to contact me.
DUStory-owner@yahoogroups.com
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