more on DU - from Steve Fetter and Frank von Hippel

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@aecl.ca>]

in reply to a letter....

http://www.bullatomsci.org/issues/2000/jf00/jf00letters.html
The purpose of our article was to estimate the magnitude of the DU exposure
problem as a response to the hysteria generated by groups such as the
International Action Center. 
Unfortunately, the U.S. government did not make timely measurements of the
exposures of U.S. soldiers. Absent such data, all we can do is make rough
estimates. These estimates are good enough to establish that exposures to
people who did not enter vehicles struck by DU munitions would not have been
large enough to cause the health effects in southern Iraq that have been
attributed by some to DU. 
We did not disaggregate the population into different weight, gender, and
age groups because we found that the doses for people who did not enter
struck vehicles were too low for such refinements to make a difference to
our conclusions. Moreover, the trace quantities of plutonium and other
transuranics that may have been in the DU would not have significantly
increased our dose estimates. 
As we state in the article, exposures to people in vehicles struck by DU
munitions or who entered such vehicles for long periods without respiratory
protection and stirred up DU dust could have been high enough to cause some
health effects. We do not know how large this population is. 
Fahey writes that "tens of thousands of veterans encountered DU under a wide
range of circumstances." If he has evidence that a significant fraction of
these exposures were large enough to cause health effects, he should publish
it. 
Soldiers who were in struck vehicles, and particularly those who have shards
of DU in their bodies, are members of an at-risk population that should be
monitored. There should also be further research on the ill effects that
might be expected and the significance of the effects that have been
observed. 
If the United States is to continue to stockpile DU munitions, it should
understand the risks associated with their use and follow-on activities, set
cleanup standards, and train personnel accordingly. 
©1999 The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

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