[ RadSafe ] US enriched uranium weapons caused Fallujah cancer, UK-Iraq s...

Tue Nov 29 15:21:02 CST 2011

Why extend any courtesy to Mr. Salsman? The willingness of this proud board 
 to even allow him access here continues to amaze.

Steve

In a message dated 11/29/2011 3:45:16 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
hotgreenchile at gmail.com writes:

Dear  James:

I understand your comments, and did not mean to suggest that  your 
observations are invalid.

My deepest concern is that the RadSafe  group is being monitored by 
non-professionals that have a hard time making  sense of various measurements, 
claims and biases - with unfounded assertions  as well as with quantities and 
units.  Thus, my conversion from mBq Kg-1  to a measurement used in regulatory 
context, μg/L (microgram / Liter).   Since my background includes quite a 
bit of geochemistry, and for my own  understanding, I tend to convert values 
into units that I can use.  If I  was terse, please accept my apology.

My specific concern with the Busby  claim of "enriched uranium" in Fallujah 
and elsewhere (Lebanon) in soils is  simply that based on the available 
data, I do not believe it, and the data do  not support that assertion, not to 
mention that the actual values measured are  quite low by environmental 
standards.  Unfortunately, there are those who  are willing to believe 
regardless of the source or in-validity of the claim.  

Sampling soil, ground & surface water and rock is a non-trivial  exercise 
requiring extensive training, practice and understanding of the  methodology. 
 When little or no information is provided about sampling,  no differential 
analysis of leached samples, nor a description and analysis of  the 
uranium-bearing mineralogy of the soil, I am left to conclude that Busby’s  work 
was no “study” at all in the scientific sense.

James, by the way,  I have understood the concept of differential 
leachability of U-234 vs. U-238  in geomedia for decades (since 1975, at least) 
because of the abundant  literature on uranium ore deposits and ore-forming 
processes. I have been, of  course, a uranium geologist since 1975 although I’ve 
done quite a few other  jobs since then (environmental hydrogeology, 
geochemistry, hydrology, dog  & horse trainer).

Dan ii

--
Dan W McCarn,  Geologist
108 Sherwood Blvd
Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
+1-505-672-2014  (Home – New Mexico)
+1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New  Mexico)
HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot  com

-----Original Message-----
From:  radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu  
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of James  Salsman
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2011 13:43
To:  radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] US enriched uranium  weapons caused Fallujah 
cancer,UK-Iraq study finds

Dan McCarn  wrote:

> After reviewing the abstract of the paper that James  mentioned, the
> concentration of uranium represented by 27 mBq-Kg-1  (0.027 Bq / Kg) is 
about
> 1 µg/L (1 microgram / L).  Most waters  have more than that.

I wasn't trying to imply that the West European  cheeses were
contaminated, only that the uranium that they did contain had  an
enriched isotope ratio, which was attributed to natural processes  by
the authors. This assertion that chemical isotope separation  occurs
naturally is consistent with the very different translocation rates  of
uranium isotopes in the human body reported in BNWL-2500, Part 1,  pp.
379-380 (1978.)

If chemical isotope enrichment is a born secret  doctrine taboo topic,
which seems very likely to me, then fine, but it's  not ethical to try
to ridicule or discredit researchers who find enriched  ratios in
groundwater.  Especially when only anti-DU researchers are  the ones
who are subject to such ridicule.  Especially when  authorities keep
telling bald faced lies about safety,  e.g.,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/14/minister-sorry-dangers-deplet
ed-uranium

Back  to the topic, I can't find any reports of anyone looking at Iraqi
dairy  products, which seems absurd given the amount of soil and
groundwater  contamination studies which are published. Almost all of
the food chain  studies of uranium contamination around geological
deposits and mine  tailings in developed countries focus on dairy
because it's the most  concentrated and bioavailable source in the
human food chain (other than  the livers of Caribou that have eaten
lichens around deposits somewhere in  Canada.) Domestic milk in Iraq is
entirely from goats and sheep watered  from wells, so why isn't anyone
looking at Iraqi  dairy?

Sincerely,
James  Salsman
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