DU & Gulf War Syndrome

[Jim Muckerheide <jmuckerheide@delphi.com>]

NO LINK BETWEEN DEPLETED URANIUM, GULF WAR SYNDROME

 WASHINGTON, DC, December 22, 2000 (ENS) - The Defense Department has issued
an updated report that concludes that any link between the U.S. military's use
of depleted uranium and undiagnosed illnesses experienced by some veterans of
the Gulf war is "unlikely." The conclusion of the Defense Department report is
supported by a recent National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine
(http://www.iom.edu/) review of scientific literature related to depleted
uranium. The first battlefield use of depleted uranium in tank armor and armor
piercing ammunition took place during the Gulf War. 

 The first interim report about depleted uranium was published in August 1998.
This updated report reviews research conducted by both governmental and
non-governmental agencies. It also includes the latest data available from a
study the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is conducting on service members
who had the greatest exposure to depleted uranium during the Gulf War. Since
1993, the VA has monitored 33 veterans who were injured in incidents involving
depleted uranium. About half of this group still have depleted uranium metal
fragments in their bodies. This update also refines previous Gulf War exposure
assessments. The full text of the updated report may be viewed on the Web at
 http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/news/na_du_ii_19dec00.htm. 

Regards, Jim
muckerheide@mediaone.net
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