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Depleted Uranium May Stop Kidneys "In Days"

Posted by timothy on from the unintended-consequences dept.

James writes: "The New Scientist, Reuters, and the San Jose Mercury News, are all carrying stories on a U.K. Royal Society report which confirms that depleted uranium shells, used widely in the Gulf War and the Balkan conflicts, are in fact deadly to bystanders. Moreover, it seems that U.S. servicepeople have been most at risk, and civilians remain at risk years after the use of such shells. The Royal Society report is being described as portraying the situation in the most favorable light, and critics say the truth is far worse."

2 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. A little exaggerated writeup, no? by Otter · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The report (or at least the reporting on the report) strikes me as something like this: a small number of soldiers who survive hits from a DU shell may face elevated health risks. Conceivably bystanders might be harmed although there's no evidence of this. One chemist associated with an anti-DU group says the report doesn't go far enough.

    Not the worst Slashdot writeup ever, but a pretty skewed one.

    What I don't get is this -- is this supposed to explain elevated cancer rates in Gulf War and Balkans veterans? How many friendly fire DU hits were there?

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    1. Re:A little exaggerated writeup, no? by Tackhead · · Score: 3, Insightful
      > > Soldiers who survived a tank hit with depleted uranium ammunition would likely have kidney uranium levels of 4 micrograms per gram.
      >
      >In other words, the slashdot write-up is an example of the worst kind of anti-nuclear hysterical ignorance.

      Agreed.

      And while we're at it, if I were a soldier whose tank survived a strike from DU artillery, I'd be thankful my kidneys (along with the rest of my internal organs) were still inside my torso, and that I was still alive to worry about how my kidneys would function at some point in the future.

      In other news today, the Friends of Gaia report that infantrymen shot by lead bullets often report negative health effects. Radiant Willow Moon, head spokesbeing for the FoG, has urged the United Nations to pass a resolution banning the use of such ecologically unfriendly bullets in favor of bullets fashioned from naturally-occurring stores of driftwood or pebbles.