by Susu Jeffrey
"My name is John Marshall. I was exposed to DU (depleted uranium). I am 100 percent disabled and I am pissed-off. In fact, I was advised by a couple of my counselors not to do this [interview] because I'm so angry with the government -at the VA system, at the way I'm treated and other veterans are treated. It's very impersonal. They don't give you any time. They ask us to go fight their wars, do the dirty work and then they can't take care of you."
Most people don't believe the U.S. has been poisoning its own troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, or they've heard about uranium "tipped" bombs-like fingernail polish painted on the outside of a shell casing. On the contrary, these are solid uranium core projectiles.
"I got a thank you (letter) from some lieutenant colonel. 'Thank you for serving our country. We express our deepest gratitude but we believe you were one of these men who were exposed to depleted uranium either through shrapnel or inhalation of dust.'
"I'm 35, I take 17 medications, I've had cancer-lymphatic cancer, Hodgkin's disease-Lennert's lymphoma was the initial diagnosis-immune system."
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21 comments:
You should all familiarize yourselves with all studies of DU contamination and comparitive studies of cancer or genetic defect rates of Gulf War Vets and the general population. If it matters to you, there is NO evidence to show that DU cointributes in any significant way to ill health. The WHO and UN did studies in response to stories of horrific cancers and birth defects in Iraqi children after the Gulf War. Even the activists said that the rates for such were in line with rates in similar Arabic nations except for villages located near the many toxic waste dumps to be found throughout Saddam's Iraq. Proximity to battlefields was deemed to be an insignifant factor. But don't let facts get in the way of propaganda...that takes all the fun out of it. This has the potential of silicon breast implant mania...in case you haven't heard, it was all a crock of shit, too. People get sick, and have to have someone to blame so that any unusual event in their lives has to have some cause. You are a Doc, are you not? Have you read the studies and do you find them in error? Can you provide data to support your position, or is that asking too much? I suppose you would have done that if you could instead of using a blog entry by some unknown person who may or may not have ever been exposed to DU and who has zero evidence to point to DU as having had any contribution to his alleged ill health.
johninnz
The effect of DU on the health is in two aspect
1- as a poisonous material
2- as a radioactive element.
Every element in nature have two distinct properties, chemical and physical. All the isotopes of Uranium have the same chemical properties, but different physical properties.
The chemical poisoning of Uranium is the same for DU and the Enriched U. It is highly poisonous. It's harmfull effects are immediate.
The physical poisoning of DU is much differ from the EU, in that it have a very low radiation dose, but a very long halflife. The effect of exposure to such low level radiation will appears several (about 20) years later, and will be transmitted to the next few generation. Those bad effects of radiation will appear in the form of Cancers, and as congenital deformities in the offsprings of the affected individuals.
That is right John. But the "20 years" figure is an approximate. it may be shorter or longer, the effects are still mainly to come.
This paper reports physical, chemical and biological analyses of samples of dust resulting from munitions containing depleted uranium (DU) that had been live-fired and had impacted an armored target. Mass spectroscopic analysis indicated that the average atom% of U was 0.198 +/- 0.10, consistent with depleted uranium. Other major elements present were iron, aluminum, and silicon. About 47% of the total mass was particles with diameters <300 microm, of which about 14% was <10 microm. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the uranium was present in the sample as uranium oxides-mainly U3O7 (47%), U3O8 (44%) and UO2 (9%). Depleted uranium dust, instilled into the lungs or implanted into the muscle of rats, contained a rapidly soluble uranium component and a more slowly soluble uranium component. The fraction that underwent dissolution in 7 d declined exponentially with increasing initial burden. At the lower lung burdens tested (<15 microg DU dust/lung) about 14% of the uranium appeared in urine within 7 d. At the higher lung burdens tested (~80-200 microg DU dust/lung) about 5% of the DU appeared in urine within 7 d. In both cases about 50% of that total appeared in urine within the first day. DU implanted in muscle similarly showed that about half of the total excreted within 7 d appeared in the first day. At the lower muscle burdens tested (<15 microg DU dust/injection site) about 9% was solubilized within 7 d. At muscle burdens >35 microg DU dust/injection site about 2% appeared in urine within 7 d. Natural uranium (NU) ore dust was instilled into rat lungs for comparison. The fraction dissolving in lung showed a pattern of exponential decline with increasing initial burden similar to DU. However, the decline was less steep, with about 14% appearing in urine for lung burdens up to about 200 microg NU dust/lung and 5% at lung burdens >1,100 microg NU dust/lung. NU also showed both a fast and a more slowly dissolving component. At the higher lung burdens of both DU and NU that showed lowered urine excretion rates, histological evidence of kidney damage was seen. Kidney damage was not seen with the muscle burdens tested. DU dust produced kidney damage at lower lung burdens and lower urine uranium levels than NU dust, suggesting that other toxic metals in DU dust may contribute to the damage.
PubMed
Not sure but I think this said that you had to inhale a heavy load of the dust to see the kidney damage, and that there was less or no damage from getting it on your skin. Maybe the doctor could correct me if I'm wrong
"The effect of exposure to such low level radiation ... will be transmitted to the next few generation. Those bad effects of radiation will appear ... as congenital deformities in the offsprings of the affected individuals."
If this is the case, please explain the demonstrated lack of statistically significant higher rates of defoemities and genetic mutations among second and subsequent generations of Japanese survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Or is you thesis that only low-level exposure produces such cross-generational problems?
The best data I've seen on the long-term effects of low-level exposure estimate an increase in the cancer rate of ~1% for a life-time dose of 1 REM. For me to accept your assertion of a significant radiation hazard I'd like to see some data on the radioactivity of DU (X microcuries/picogram, for example) along with some reasonable estimate of both airborne concentration and surface contamination. Yes, airborne exposure is potentially more dangerous, but I seriously doubt if any measurable amount of a given munition would be sufficiently atomized to still diffuse throughout an open atmosphere in any significant concentrations. Additionally, given DU's heavy weight the fallout rate would also be quite high, meaning the only personnel likely to at any risk from inhalation would be those that were targetted by the munition.
Sorry, but I've seen too many genuine scientific studies debunking the whole DU health hazard from multiple sources and all I've seen supporting it are anecdotes and horror stories from the usual suspects.
OCCAM--I agree, scientists can postulate and theorize anything that will support thier agendas, but show ONE study of genetic deformity or cancer occurence that shows anything approaching an obvious link to increased incidence for those exposed to DU. Evidence, facts from which any reasonably intelligent person can draw obvious conclusions. Just one. You know, a sample from the general population against a selected group with DU exposure. Everyone has some level of uranium contamination and those exposed to direct contact, even those with imbedded DU shrapnell have shown no ill effects. Such studies are not difficult to do and have been done repeatedly. Each time they are greeted as does Dr.'Truthteller'. Just wait 2 years, ok--5 years--ok, well it is coming in 10 years, dister looms in 20 years--you get the idea. I remember Iraq displaying pictures of deformed and starving children that they laid at the feet of the United States. A UN investigation found they were due to toxic waste disposal and the Anfal Arabization campaign. Old habits are hard to break, I guess. Bottom line, this is anywar propaganda and has nothing to do with concern for peoples health. TT's mujahadeen are doing their part for the health of Iraqis, and he thinks that is just fine.
Johninnz --
Truthteller is right. The 'enriched' uranium is the U-235 isotope, which is the lighter, more radioactive one used to make nuclear bombs. The 'depleted' one is U-238. It is still radioactive and dangerous.
I saw an excellent picture of an M1 tank fresh back from Iraq. That is the US flagship MBT and it uses DU (U-238) as plates inside its composite armour and also DU armour piercing ammunition. This particular tank had had an exchange of opinions with the Iraqi Resistance, and was looking in a pretty sad state. More interesting than this was the fact that it was encased in a METAL CASING MARKED RADIOACTIVE. That's right - it was sealed.
In other words, the armour had ruptured or the ammunition had cooked off, and the Americans deemed it a health risk, hence the casing and warning. They know full well what they are doing with the DU. They know it is dangerous. They just don't care about the consequences to Iraqis and their children.
And there are consequences.
Here is an extract from a relevant article:
Soaring birth deformities and child cancer rates in Iraq
By James Cogan - 10 May 2005 - WSW
" Iraqi doctors are making renewed efforts to bring to the world’s attention the growth in birth deformities and cancer rates among the country’s children. The medical crisis is being directly blamed on the widespread use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions by the US and British forces in southern Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War, and the even greater use of DU during the 2003 invasion. The rate of birth defects, after increasing ten-fold from 11 per 100,000 births in 1989 to 116 per 100,000 in 2001, is soaring further. Dr Nawar Ali, a medical researcher into birth deformities at Baghdad University, told the UN’s Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) last month: “There have been 650 cases [birth deformities] in total since August 2003 reported in government hospitals. That is a 20 percent increase from the previous regime. Private hospitals were not included in the study, so the number could be higher.”
[...]
Six years ago, the College of Medicine at Basra University carried out a study into the rate of cancer among children under the age of 15 in southern Iraq from 1976 to 1999. It revealed a horrific change between 1990 and 1999. In the province of Basra, the incidence of cancer of all types rose by 242 percent, while the rate of leukaemia among children rose 100 percent. Children living in the area were falling ill with cancer at the rate of 10.1 per 100,000. In districts where the use of DU had been the most concentrated, the rate rose to 13.2 per 100,000.
[...]
Terrible as these results were, the last six years have witnessed a further rise in the number of children under 15 falling ill with cancer in Iraq. The rate has now reached 22.4 per 100,000—more than five times the 1990 rate of 3.98 per 100,000. Dr Janan Hassan of the Basra Maternity and Childrens Hospital told IRIN in November 2004 that as many as 56 percent of all cancer patients in Iraq were now children under 5, compared with just 13 percent 15 years earlier. “Also,” he said, “it is notable that the number of babies born with defects is rising astonishingly. In 1990, there were seven cases of babies born with multiple congenital anomalies. This has gone up to as high as 224 cases in the past three years.” // end extract
I think it is the time to explain some facts about the ill effects of radiation exposure.
-Exposure to radiation affects more the rapidly growing tissues, in humans, it means, the reproductive system and the blood forming cells in the bone marrow. also it affect children more than adults.
-the Radiationis are of different types:- Particles radiation, which includes Alpha and Beta radiation. Alpha is more dangerous than Beta because of its heavy weight and high positive charge.-And the Electro-Magnetic radiation which includes Gamma, X, and Solar ray.
The type of radiation will determine its penetrating power, on which the radiation absorbed fraction is depend.
the dangers of radiation are depend on its type, Energy and its concentration in the media.
To the Human body, the effects of radiation is depend on:
-The Type of Tissue (particle or EM ray)
-The Radiosensitivity of the Tissue.
-The physical half-life of the radiating element (in case of U it is 4.5 Billion years)
-The biological half-life (depend on the system involved and the chemical properties of the element)
-The effective half-life which derived from both the physical and biological half-life.
The effects of radiation is of two types.
The stochastic and non-stochastic effects
In the non-stochastic type, there is a threshold dose below which there is no danger of radiation. The severity of damage depends on the dose.
In the stochastic type, the danger is present even for the tiny doses, but the incidence of the damage is depend on the dose.
I think these are the basic information to understand the ill effects of exposure to radiation.
The subject is half physics and half medicine. I hope I did'nt make mistakes in discussing the physical half.
i can provide you with mor organised details if any body wants, but I have to re read the subject to be more precise.
Try this link
Sounds more like a product of this than anything to do with Du
My Mislawi brother, well done.
We have to ALWAYS remind the world of the great injustices committed against our people. ALL our people whether shia or sunni, turkmen or kurd, Yazidi or Chaldean, Jew or Christian.
The DU used in Iraq and its lingering effects are the greatest victories of the US neocon Zionist war machine to destroy future Iraqi generations.
And then they tell us they are building democracy in Iraq.
Every person who refuses to believe the destructive effects of DU on our people, tell them the WTC towers were brought down to create a new Disneyland, so really, its okay.
It hurts to hear. So imagine how we feel when people add insult to our injuries and whine and refute that DU has debilitated our children.
9-11 was a tragedy. The killing of Jews in WWII was a tragedy.
Iraq has dozens upon dozens of tragedies.
Someone should write about the Ameriya shelter.
Ah, goody, Madtom to the rescue once more.
Your comic relief was appreciated, thank you. Guess that nobody told you that Tuwaitha and Basra are hundreds of miles apart. Guess that nobody told you that the incidence of child deformities and cancers started going up well before this war and the attendant looting.
Oh, wait, I did, in that excerpt I pasted.
Don’t trip over your own feet on your way out, y’hear.
Johninnz –
“My understanding is that DU munitions are basically intended to provide more "punch" for armour-penetrating rounds in a conventional conflict. Since "insurgents" don't usually have tanks, there seems little justification for use of DU rounds in an urban environment while there remains any doubt about their effcts.”
That’s right. Due to the high density of the rounds they have excellent piercing capabilities. A side effect is the pyrophoric nature of DU, which means it ignites under stress. It is thus a natural incendiary agent. However, you are quite right about the use of DU in urban areas. Tungsten rounds would have the same penetration for all practical purposes, and the incendiary side effect is in any case overkill against an enemy which is completely outgunned in a conventional confrontation anyway.
Tungsten rounds do NOT have the same ability to penetrate nor do they have the range or accuracy. DU rounds value in this conflict is its vastly greater ability to penetrate concrete walls, not armor. A single DU round can do more damage to a structure than 5 tungsten rounds in most cases. A combatant can not hide behind two or three walls and be safe because DU rounds do not flatten and will penetrate several walls before stopping. There were at least 5 major studies done by 5 different members of NATO, including the Netherlands, that found ZERO lingering ill effects from the widespread use of DU weapons in the Balkans. There were at least four major studies of UN aqnd other international organisations eager to find a link between DU weapons and the incidence of cancer and deformity in Iraqi children-- they, too, came up with nothing. That is simply a fact and remains a fact no matter how many picures of deformed children living in third world countries one can produce. We know neurotoxins and god knows what were used by Iraqis in their own country for decades and we know have a lot of evidence they were used to some degree against coalition forces in the first Gulf War. We also know they 'destroyed' many, many tons of chemical and biological weapons and their precursers in an undocumented way (unless they remain somewhere?), and that the country has been littered with toxic waste dumps for decades. So what would common sense lead one to believe is the most likely cause for any increased health concerns among Iraqis, even without the data provided from various studies? Other than the obligatory Zionist plots, I mean, just what reasoanble conclusion could an unbiased clear thinker come to? TT is a scientist, doesn't he agree with that reasoning?
Bruno your such a bore,
My link was in response to TT link which claimed that 600 children a day were coming in with radiation poisoning. I know the site is far from Basra, but the looters emptied drums full of who knows what radioactive waste and then sold the drums. Yes even to people hundreds of miles away. People were using them to do their washing and to store food.
The incidence of cancers are rising worldwide, probably due to better detection and diagnosis. There is no evidence that the cancers in Iraq have risen above the norm for the region, is there?
There's some stuff about depleted uranium availabl from the WOrld Health Organization here:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs257/en/
They also have a more detailed and larger pdf document on the subject here:
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2001/WHO_SDE_OEH_01.12.pdf
What little I know of it suggests that DU is used in armor-piercing ammunition fired most often from aircraft and against tanks and vehicles, and maybe buildings too. The WHO says it's a particular hazard to small kids since they put a lot of stuff in their mouth. It's less radioactive than natural uranium, but there is more OF it in a place where DU amunition was used than in places where it was not.
If I was a health officer in Iraq I would consider surveying sites where children are found like schools and playgrounds for DU with a radiation detector and try to develop a database identifying locations where armored vehicles had been subjected to attack from aircraft. I'd also check water supply systems for contamination.
I DO wish that people would read my comments properly, so that I don’t have to run after little munchkins like Anonymous spoonfeeding them.
[Anonymous] “Tungsten rounds do NOT have the same ability to penetrate nor do they have the range or accuracy.”
I did NOT claim that they did, you dunce. What I did say is that for all practical purposes, (given that the Resistance does not have any armoured vehicles and engages in close range ambushes) Tungsten would perform the same job as DU without the side effects. And if you really want to “do damage” to a structure you can use HE ammunition. The fact that DU has the ability to penetrate so many walls without deformation is just more evidence that the US Army does not give a fig about causing civilian casualties or collateral damage to people even living far away. ( In fact, I have to wonder at this point is killing additional Iraqis isn’t part of the message, to show everyone how “baddass” you are. )
[Anonymous] “There were at least 5 major studies done by 5 different members of NATO, including the Netherlands, that found ZERO lingering ill effects from the widespread use of DU weapons in the Balkans. There were at least four major studies of UN aqnd other international organisations eager to find a link between DU weapons and the incidence of cancer and deformity in Iraqi children-- they, too, came up with nothing.”
That’s right, and Chernobyl is a flowering paradise which is due for transformation into Disneyland anytime soon. Because, actually long-term exposure to radiation is GOOD for you. It gives you that “healthy green glow”, right?
How about you actually cite something from those studies, eh?
(Otherwise I have at least 10 major studies, including from Boondocklandia, that have found serious side effects linked to the use of DU weaponry. Oh, heck, since we are citing studies without extracts, make it 100 major studies.)
Meanwhile, while we all wait twiddling our thumbs for you to supply us with your “major studies”, we can read about the true effects of DU. Incidentally, in the Balkans:
Low Intensity Nuclear War
by Michel Chossudovsky, January 15, 2001 - University of Ottawa,
The death from leukemia of eight Italian peacekeepers stationed in Bosnia and Kosovo sparked an uproar in the Italian Parliament, following the leaking of a secret military document to the Italian newspaper La Republicca. In Portugal, the Defense Ministry was also involved in what amounted to a deliberate camouflage of "the cause of death" of Portuguese peacekeeper Corporal Hugo Paulino. "'Citing "herpes of the brain', the army refused to allow his family to commission a postmortem examination." [The Independent, London, 4 January 2001.] Amidst mounting political pressure, Defense Minister Julio Castro Caldas advised NATO Headquarters in November that he was withdrawing Portuguese troops from Kosovo: "They were not, he said, going to become uranium meat".[Felicity Arbutnot, "It Turns out that Depleted Uranium is Bad for NATO"]
As the number of cancer cases among Balkans "peacekeepers" rises, NATO's cover-up has started to fracture. Several European governments have been obliged to publicly acknowledge the "alleged health risks" of depleted uranium (DU) shells used by the US Air Force in NATO's 78-day war against Yugoslavia.
[…]
The first signs of radiation on children, including herpes on the mouth and skin rashes on the back and ankles have been observed in Kosovo.[ Dr. Siegfried Horst Guenther, "Uran Geschosse: Schwergeschädigte Soldaten, misßgebildete Neugeborene, sterbende Kinder," Ahriman Verlag] In Northern Kosovo -- the area least affected by DU shells (see Map at http://balkans.unep.ch/du/targetmap.html) -- 160 people are being treated for cancer.[9] The number of leukemia cases in Northern Kosovo has increased by 200 percent since NATO's air campaign, and children have been born with deformities.[10] This information regarding civilian victims -- which the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has been careful not to reveal -- refutes NATO's main "assumption" that radioactive dust does not spread beyond the target sites, most of which are in the Southwestern and Southern regions close to the Albanian and Macedonian borders.” //end excerpt
And of course, the Balkans was NOT full of WMD’s or toxic waste dumps or whatever else you want to use as a flimsy excuse for this campaign of nuclear poisoning against Iraq.
Consider yourself chastised, embarrassed and dismissed.
BAGHDAD, 25 April (IRIN) - The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced on Monday that some 1,000 people living near the former Tuwaitha nuclear site faced serious health risks from lingering radiation.
Tuwaitha, situated some 20 km south of the capital, Baghdad, "is one of a number of sites in the country identified as needing decommissioning or remediation, where radioactive material was used or waste buried," according to an IAEA statement.
Residents of the nearby Ishtar village, for example, are exposed to levels of radiation higher than normal, the agency noted, which – in the case of prolonged exposure – could pose serious health risks. According to Bushra Ali Ahmed, director of the Radiation Protection Centre in Baghdad, blood tests carried out on residents revealed a degree of radioactivity in almost half of them.
Devoted to nuclear research under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, Tuwaitha has the highest levels of ambient radiation in the country, according to experts. "Research was done under the Hussein regime using the most dangerous kinds of nuclear material," said Ammar Kheiry, a senior official at the Ministry of Science and Technology. "This resulted in a concentration of radioactive material and exposure of innocent civilians to the dangerous material."
Kheiry went on to draw attention to the government's concern over radioactive material and equipment that vanished from Iraq's nuclear sites in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion of the country. There have been scattered reports, for instance, of equipment being used by poor families to store water and petrol domestically.
Officials at the health ministry, meanwhile, point out that the number of patients diagnosed with cancer countrywide has increased noticeably in the past two years. Experts suspect the main cause for rising cancer rates could be radioactive contamination resulting from the widespread use of radioactive munitions and equipment.
"Before 2003, there was one new cancer case a day in the capital, at most. This number has now risen to five per day," said Dr Ahmed Abdul Jabbar, an oncologist at the Baghdad Radiation Hospital. "An urgent study should be undertaken, because, according to our statistics, most of the cancer cases have come from areas affected by war and fighting."
The government, therefore, has asked the IAEA for assistance compiling a study on radiation levels throughout the country. "We've called for help from international organisations with expertise in these issues to protect Iraqis from becoming victims of these dangerous materials," Kheiry explained.
The first steps to be undertaken by the IAEA will be to identify, cordon off and prioritise the areas posing the greatest risk to the population. According to agency officials, the main challenge will be to "determine unknown locations where contaminated equipment and materials might be buried and recover lost records about…radioactive materials stored in waste containers".
But cleaning up radioactive materials is a relatively long and complicated process, say officials. "This is a huge task," Dennis Reisenweaver, the IAEA expert heading the effort, noted recently. "And one that could take many years."
clay---on this subject, those who wish to puch the US'genocide' of Iraqis claims always run back to their safe little discussions where facts don't matter. I was hoping we could get to the Gulf War Syndrome w2hich was widely blamed on DU until the last few years when a lot of evidence has led investigators to the conclusion that Iraq used some neurotoxin weapons on some unknowing Coaliton troops in the first Gulf War--- either Sarin or something closely related. Thsoe who wish to argue against that may wish to read this before showing their ignorance. So, we have claims here of American DU weapons causing ilnesses in Iraqis which have been debuked by numerous investigations, and we have the evidence that Iraqs used nerve gas against US forces which is ignored. Says everything one really needs to know about the agendas of the 'concerned for humanity" crowd.
clay---on this subject, those who wish to puch the US'genocide' of Iraqis claims always run back to their safe little discussions where facts don't matter. I was hoping we could get to the Gulf War Syndrome w2hich was widely blamed on DU until the last few years when a lot of evidence has led investigators to the conclusion that Iraq used some neurotoxin weapons on some unknowing Coaliton troops in the first Gulf War--- either Sarin or something closely related. Thsoe who wish to argue against that may wish to read this before showing their ignorance. So, we have claims here of American DU weapons causing ilnesses in Iraqis which have been debuked by numerous investigations, and we have the evidence that Iraqs used nerve gas against US forces which is ignored. Says everything one really needs to know about the agendas of the 'concerned for humanity" crowd.
"There were at least 5 major studies done by 5 different members of NATO, including the Netherlands, that found ZERO lingering ill effects from the widespread use of DU weapons in the Balkans. There were at least four major studies of UN aqnd other international organisations eager to find a link between DU weapons and the incidence of cancer and deformity in Iraqi children-- they, too, came up with nothing. That is simply a fact and remains a fact no matter how many picures of deformed children living in third world countries one can produce."
---
Like said earlier, given enough time to stare at anything and rationalize, a researcher can find anything d*** thing they want.
I recommend looking up the following concept discussed in psychology:
Belief Bias
This discusses the tendency of distorting information in favor of one's previous beliefs while still following the rules of logic. This is especially useful to know about when talking (or writing) about any controversial viewpoint, and applies to all sides.
Think about it. If the US VA is not willing to do what is needed for Veterans affected by DU what do you think they will do for Iraqi citizens that will bear the burden of DU laden land, water, and food? Nothing.... not a dam thing!! Kick those fuckers out of your country before they screw it up more.
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