[lbo-talk] [Fwd: [PEN-L] cobalt, uranium]

Curtiss Leung curtiss_leung at ibi.com
Tue Sep 16 08:24:39 PDT 2003


JoanD:
> That said wouldn't one of the dangers of depleted uranium be the fact
> that upon impact it is particularized and therefore breathable thus
> causing more damage than would otherwise occur.

Yep. From http://www.isisuk.demon.co.uk/0811/isis/uk/regpapers/no78_paper.html#5

The degree of chemical toxicity of uranium is similar

to that of other heavy metals, cadmium or lead. The

real reason for concern - as in the case of the

radiation hazard - lies in the clouds of uranium

dust thrown up by the impact of DU penetrators on

hard objects such as tanks. American Army tests

have indicated that up to half of the uranium oxides

produced by these impacts is relatively soluble. Whether

swallowed or breathed in such material is quickly

dissolved in the body's fluids and transported

around the bloodstream. Uranium's reaction

with other biological molecules causes damage.

About 90 per cent of the uranium is excreted by

the kidneys within 24 to 48 hours, and it is in

the kidneys themselves that almost all the damage

occurs. In the acid environment of urine the uranium

combines with proteins in the tubular walls of the

kidney causing cell death, and decreased ability

to filter. The remaining 10 per cent of uranium

that is not excreted lodges permanently in organs

such as the liver and kidney, in fat and muscle

but chiefly in the bones. Here it can form a

long-term radiological hazard but the only

known evidence of chemical damage from uranium

in humans is to the kidneys.

The last paragraph is a magnificent piece of ass-covering:

In order to inhale a dangerous level of uranium

dust someone would either have to have been in

a tank when it was hit by a DU-based round; or

have entered the tank immediately afterwards in

a rescue attempt; or taken part in a lengthy

clean-up inside the vehicle without proper

respiration gear; or engaged in other activities,

such as a recovery operation, leading to

the inhalation of freshly kicked up dust.

"Or engaged in other activities," meaning having been unlucky enough to breathe in a good lungfull of dust.

Curtiss



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