Commentary Toxicity of depleted uranium The Lancet

The Lancet Vol 357 January 27 2001

Commentary Toxicity of depleted uranium Author ND Priest

Concluding paragraph reads:-

"It can be safely concluded that at any conceivable level of uptake depleted uranium will have no appreciable radiological or chemical carcinogenic potential. Moreover even if cancers were to be produced they would occur many years after intake, because the lag period between damage to the sensitive cells and the appearance of recognisable tumours. In man for chronic irradiation from internally deposited alpha-emitting radionuclide, these latency periods would typically lie in the range of 10 years to several decades. In view of this latency, tumours in individuals exposed to depleted uranium for shorter periods - e.g. servicemen exposed to depleted uranium in the former Yugoslavia within the past decade - cannot be attributed to radiation from depleted uranium. Finally the only chemical toxic effect expected would be reversible damage to the kidney."