RE: more on DU

[Charles Picco <picco1@llnl.gov>]

Because inhalation provides the far greater body burden because of the

retention time in the lungs and thus dose to the lungs (embedded

shrapnel, of course, would provide a greater CED)


At 08:40 AM 12/17/2002 -0500, Jacobus, John (NIH/OD/ORS) wrote:

Why do you only consider inhalation as the intake route?
-- John

-----Original Message-----

From: Charles Picco [mailto:picco1@llnl.gov]

Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 6:33 PM

To: Jacobus, John (NIH/OD/ORS)

Subject: RE: more on DU

This calculation only refers to the body burden of the radionuclide in terms of radiation based upon the ICRP-60 series models.

Please see my other posts for an explanation of enriched depleted U.

At 06:11 PM 12/16/2002 -0500, you wrote:

Interesting.  I have never heard of enriched depleted uranium.  But it is not unusual on this list to make up things as people go along.

 

You should note that there is a limiting factor for soluble uranium based on it chemical toxicity of 10 mgm/wk.  Have you figured that into your calculations? 

 

Finally, as food for thought, the article states "In Bratunac alone in the last four years 500 of the 5000 Hadzici refugees had died."  What did they die from?  Cancer?  Malnutrition? Plague?

-- John

-----Original Message-----

From: Charles Picco [mailto:picco1@llnl.gov]

Sent: Monday, December 16, 2002 4:19 PM

To: Norman Cohen; Daveandrewswxm1@AOL.COM

Cc: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

Subject: Re: more on DU

This is correction to my last post.  25% should have read .25%

According to my calculations (which should be checked), it takes about .5g of .25% enriched DU inhaled (5 micron, type S) to reach the annual occupational dose of 5 rem CED.  That is a rather large number in my estimation.  Please comment.

Charles

At 07:23 PM 12/14/2002 -0500, Norman Cohen wrote:

Dave,

It's hard to figure put how much is the effect of DU and how much is from other sources of war-time pollution, or some combination of the two. I agree that the 25% number seems high.

norm

Daveandrewswxm1@aol.com wrote:

Dear Norm,

Interesting articles. Strange that one of the first mentions of Jovanovic's report says that "25 % of wartime Hadzici residents have died etc" but the very next sentence says "In Bratunac alone in the last four years 500 of the 5000 Hadzici refugees had died." This is more like 10%.

The article also first calls the DU  used "bombs" although it is clear that it was in the form of cannon  rounds from A-10s. These contain approx 270 gms of DU each so in total around 290 kgs of DU was used in Bosnia. This compares to the 320+ tonnes used in the Gulf War.

I'm not trying to say that there are'nt health problems associated with the use of DU weapons nor that there have'nt been health problems for the former residents of Hadzici but that the assertion that there has been a mushrooming of cancer deaths resulting from a substance that is 200,000 times less radioactive than plutonium is difficult to credit.

In peace,  Dave

--

Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8583 or 609-601-8537;  ncohen12@comcast.net  UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE:  http://www.unplugsalem.org/  COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WEBSITE:  http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org   The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.

"First they ignore you; Then they laugh at you; Then they fight you; Then you win. (Gandhi) "Why walk when you can fly?"  (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Charles Picco

HEU Dosimetry Coordinator / Internal Dosimetry Technician

Hazards Control Department

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Phone:  925-422-7078

Pager:   925-423-7705   then 04543

Charles Picco
HEU Dosimetry Coordinator / Internal Dosimetry Technician
Hazards Control Department
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Phone:  925-422-7078
Pager:   925-423-7705   then 04543