Re: DU scare story from Los Alamos

[Philip Hypes <phypes@lanl.gov>]

I can't pass this up.  I'll try and stick to the more glaring examples of
swine soap.  What follows is purely my own opinion, and shouldn't be
represented as anything but a personal opinion.

At 01:08 PM 6/12/00 -0500, you wrote:
>A friend of mine recieved this and forwarded it on to me.
>I know this is all a load of hogwash, but if someone could 
>tell me how it is a load of hogwash I would appreciate it.
>
>Thanks
>Andrew
>____________________________________________________	

"highly toxic and radioactive material DU."

Highly toxic is hardly a well defined term, but given the status of the
Gulf War vets who are living with DU shrapnel in their bodies, I'd say it's
entirely unwarranted here.  DU certainly isn't "high radioactive."

"These tests result in the creation of DU particles which behave like dust
and can travel in the same way dust particles travel eventually getting
into soil and water."

What this statement fails to realize is that not all dust particles behave
the same way.  Their physical characteristics (size, mass, etc) have a
large impact on how they are transported.  "Behave like dust" is only
slightly more useful than "behave like matter."

"1) firefighters and other emergency personnel should be tested for DU in
their bodies; 2) air, water and soil should be tested for DU in communities
downwind from Los Alamos, up to 60 miles; 3) agricultural products grown
downwind of the fire should be washed before eating."

I'll leave it to those more knowledgible than I to comment about the air
samples that were taken during the incident, but I have to ask, how many
agricultural products are eaten without being washed?  Also, has this
individual ever heard of dilution?

"If it is very insoluble, it will take time for the lung to pulverize into
particle small enough for the phagocytes to pull into the thoracic lymph
nodes."

Okay, I'm no doctor, but can lung tissue pulverize metals dense and hard
enough to make good antiarmor projectiles?  I've never heard of lungs
pulverizing anything.

"DU has become internationally recognized as a health hazard."

Typical scary meaningless statement.  Water has also been internationally
recognized as a health hazard.  One cup in the lungs can kill you right
here, right now.

"Affected communities experience health problems similar to those of U.S.
Gulf War Veterans and Iraqi Soldiers and Civilians."

Meaning the health problems connection to the proposed causative agent
can't be proven.  As a matter of fact, a viable link usually can't even be
proposed.  A large, comprehensive study has indicated that GWS is just a
term for whatever ails those who worry about GWS.

"Despite the name "Depleted" Uranium, DU has 1/2 the radioactivity of
Natural Uranium, which is pure uranium."

Wow.  Almost takes your breath away.  I won't argure with the "1/2 the
radioactivity" part, but are they saying DU isn't "pure uranium"?  Are they
saying all Natural Uranium is "pure uranium"?  Is DU "impure uranium"?
"Pure" means naturally healthy to lots of people;  are they saying that
natural uranium (with twice the radioactivity, by their own statement) is
natural and healthy (let's not get into hormesis here).  The purity of any
lump of uranium is totally unrelated to it's enrichment.  Most of the
natural uranium in the world is in the ground as ore, and it's far from
pure.  If it were, we wouldn't have anybody worrying about mill tailings.

"The International Depleted Uranium Study Team is a non-profit,
organization dedicated to stopping the use of DU in military weapons."

Which would probably have meant a lot more allied soldiers would have come
home from the Gulf War in body bags, if the Iraqui military had really been
up to any sort of fight.


___________________________________________________________
Philip Hypes
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Safeguards Science and Technology Group (NIS 5)
(505) 667-1556  phypes@lanl.gov

Opinions expressed are purely my own unless otherwise noted

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