[ RadSafe ] Uranium and genotoxicity

[Dan W McCarn]

Dan W. McCarn, Geologist; 3118 Pebble Lake Drive; Sugar Land, TX 77479; USA 
HotGreenChile at gmail.com   mccarn at unileoben.ac.at   UConcentrate at gmail.com

Hello again:

James remained mute over the following observations:

To recap what James has said: 
      - 25,000 km^2 of area in Iraq defines the battle theater

Fathallah's (2007) assertion: 
      - Uranium uptake in agricultural products and drinking water from airborne redistribution of uranium.

Quoting Fathallah (2007)
"The fine uranium dust has been spread by the wind from the war zone to the surrounding region, including Basrah, and it is by now pushing down the soil by the effect of rain to reach the water table, which is used for drinking & irrigating the vegetables for human consumption 34."
Unquote
(Remember that the reference was to the Chernobyl calf with a cleft lip, which I have already discussed at length)

My Assumptions:
      - About 7.5 Tonnes of airborne releases of U in Iraq
      - In Iraq, 10% to 25% (more likely 10%) of total area used for agriculture
      - Assume uniform distribution of airborne U over 25,000 km^2
      - Irrigated area: between 2,500 sq.km (0.75 Tonnes U) to 6,250 sq.km (1.85 Tonnes U)
      - 100% dissolution as uranyl ion complexed as carbonate at neutral pH.
      - Migration of U into soil zone; no longer available as runoff.
      - Surface waters are typically very low in dissolved uranium.

San Luis Valley (SLV) in Southern Colorado:
      - 1,796.13 Sq.Km irrigated cropland
      - About 7.5 Tonnes U per annum deposited on agricultural soils by irrigation waters
      - Range: 5 - 10 Tonnes U / annum
      - 1 million acre-feet per year (1.3 x 10^12 L)
      - 2 million tonnes produced crops; 1 million tonnes of potatoes.

Numbers:
Area - Source Term   Iraq Agr.25%  Iraq Agr.10%  SLV - Low  SLV-Mid   SLV - High
Area sq.km               6250          2500         1,796     1,796      1,796
Tonnes U                 1.875         0.75           5        7.5         10
Tonnes U / Sq. Km       0.00030      0.00030       0.00278   0.0042      0.0056
Multiplier for SLV Source Term                       9.3       13.9       18.6

Conclusion:
      - SLV has about 14 times per annum the amount of uranium deposited per unit area as Iraq theater.
      - SLV ranges from 9.3 to 18.6 times the amount U per unit area as Iraq, on an annual basis;
      - Over 10 years, this will be 90 to 180 times the amount of uranium in the SLV;
      - SLV has been in active production for 100 years;
      - No reported problems.

What is your point, James?

Dan ii



-----Original Message-----
From: jsalsman at gmail.com [mailto:jsalsman at gmail.com] On Behalf Of James Salsman
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 1:25 AM
To: Dan W McCarn; radsafelist
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Uranium and genotoxicity

Dan,

Thank you for your message.

What is your opinion on whether (U-238)O2-Y is more dangerous than
(U-238)O3-D, as the ICRP and NRC assert, or does the bioavailability
of the uranyl ion make equivalent activities of (U-238)O3 more of an
ingestion and inhalation hazard?

> James is persistent; I just wish that he would listen.
> My presentation of moles per liter of PHREEQC
> equilibrium concentrations has been previously presented.

I wish you would listen, too.  When will you use the 25,000 km^2 area
in which depleted uranium munitions were used instead of "a third of
Iraq," which is several times larger?

Furthermore, have you taken into account that potable water in that
region is taken from rainwater runoff?

>... Also consider that groundwater may also have
> a number of other trace metals and materials,
> e.g. major anions & cations (Na, Ca, Cl, SO4,
> HCO3, CO3) trace metals (selenium, molybdenum,
> etc. that may concentrate in the soil zone over time.
> It all depends on the "Leaching Coefficient", how
> quickly or slowly specific analytes move through
> the soil column.

Does that imply that mathematical models require a firm foundation in
empirical observation from weathering of the oxides to human
bioavalability on the specific terain in question?

> The fact is that the uranium does not concentrate
> significantly in desert soils with the possible
> exception of caliche- or gypcretes-forming soils....

I will have to look those up.

In the mean time, would you please have a look at this article and
please tell me your opinion of it?
  http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2137136

James Salsman