[ RadSafe ] non-chelation, antioxidant therapies for uranium poisoning???

[James Salsman]

Because of the petition forwarded below, I will soon have the
opportunity to present advice pertaining to treatments of uranium
poisoning to people able to implement them.  These people are
already aware of chelation therapies, so there would be no point
in trying to produce a review of human uranium chelation.

One of the things that caught my attention, in the past eight
months that I have been studying uranium combustion product
inhalation poisoning, is that A. Miller, et al.[1] at the U.S.
Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, have described the
toxicity of uranium poisoning as primarily a genotoxicity, which
explains its teratogenic properties cited at the end of the
petition below.  They explain the genotoxicity of uranium as
resulting from oxidative DNA damage and catalytic production of
hydroxyl radicals in cells.

This suggests the use of antioxidant therapy, or its new cousin,
antioxidant production stimulation therapy, e.g., Protandim[2],
which contains extracts of milk thistle (silybum marianum) seed[3],
ashwagandha (withania somnifera) root[4], bacopa monnieri aerial
part[5], and turmeric (curcuma longa) rhizome[6].

Three questions:

Are there any reasons that antioxidant production stimulation
therapy would not be an appropriate co-treatment for uranium poisoning?

Are there any known viable treatments for uranium poisoning, other
than chelation?

What are the most effective uranium poisoning treatments of which you
are aware?

Thank you for your kind help.

References:

[1] 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12121782

[2]
http://www.protandim.com/html/about_the_science/protandim_solution.htm

[3] 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12059045

[4] 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11116534

[5] 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12093601

[6]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11712783 


Sincerely,
James Salsman

---- forwarded message ----

 > Date: Sun, 03 Apr 2005 05:40:53 -0700
 > From: James Salsman <james at bovik.org>
 > To:  LAR1 at NRC.GOV
 > CC:  jofu at icehouse.net,  maryann.parkhurst at pnl.gov, ...
 > Subject: 10 CFR 2.206(a) request to modify uranium munitions licenses

Luis A. Reyes
Executive Director for Operations
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
BY EMAIL AS PER 10 CFR 2.206(a)

Dear Mr. Reyes:

Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, I request that all licenses allowing
the possession, transport, storage, or use of pyrophoric uranium
munitions be modified to impose enforceable conditions on all
such licensees in order to rectify their misconduct as described
below, and any other corrective action as deemed proper.

The basis for this request is the gross negligence on the part
of the licensees, as documented by the as yet undisputed facts
set forth in NRC allegation number RI-2005-A-0035 below.

This is an exceptionally grave issue involving significant safety
and environmental issues.  It is clear on the face of the
allegations that a result materially different from the issuance
of the existing licenses would have been likely had uranyl
nitrate fume emission from uranium munitions been considered upon
the initial applications for the licenses allowing them.

Because this request involves the conduct of military functions,
in accordance with 10 CFR 2.301, I ask that the Commission provide
an alternative procedure for adjudication allowing the immediate
issuance of orders to protect the health of United States armed
forces currently at risk of exposure to uranium munition combustion
products.  This request for an alternative procedure includes but
is not limited to:  foreshortening of the Commission's customary
time limits in accordance with 10 CFR 2.307(a), the expedited
issuance of an initial order in accordance with 10 CFR 2.339(a),
and/or the use of expedited proceedings in accordance with 10 CFR
sections 2.1400 through 2.1407.

Please confirm receipt by return email with the case file number
assigned to this request.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
James Salsman

---- NRC ALLEGATION NUMBER RI-2005-A-0035 ----

Wednesday, 16 March 2005

Commissioner Nils Diaz
Chair
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
and staff

Dr. Jofu Mishima
and colleagues

      URANYL NITRATE ALLEGATION FACTS

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

This message is intended to clarify and supplement my "Allegation and
Emergency Report" sent to the NRC on 12 March 2005. As yet there has
been no dispute of my allegations. However, my earlier message was
somewhat difficult to read because it preserves the format of several
messages of included correspondence. This is the essence of my
allegations:

1. The primary U.S. scientist responsible for the study of depleted
uranium munitions safety from no later than 1979 through at least 1999,
was Dr. Jofu Mishima, who has worked with several colleagues at
Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, under contract from the
Department of the Army.

2. Dr. Mishima is an author of the following and related publications:

      Parkhurst, M.A., J.R. Johnson, J. Mishima, and J.L. Pierce,
"Evaluation of DU Aerosol Data: Its Adequacy for Inhalation Modeling,"
PNL-10903, Richland, WA: Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory,
December 1995

      Gilchrist, R.L., J.A. Glissmyer, and J. Mishima, "Characterization
of Airborne Uranium from Test Firings of XM774 Ammunition," PNL-2944,
Richland, WA: Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, November 1979

      Parkhurst, M.A., J. Mishima, and M.H. Smith, "Bradley Fighting
Vehicle Burn Test," PNNL-12079, Richland, WA: Battelle Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory, February 1999

3. In email correspondence this year, Dr. Mishima wrote that he was
unaware of the fact that uranium reacts with nitrogen.

4. Accordingly, Dr. Mishima indicated that he was unaware of any attempt
to detect uranyl nitrate in the combustion products of DU ordnance by
the Army. This is consistent with all of the published literature and
summaries of classified documents I have been able to find describing
the combustion products of uranium munitions.  However, European
scientists did detect uranyl ion in an enclosed burn last year:
   http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.04.001

5. The basic fact that uranium reacts with nitrogen gas at 700 degrees
Celsius has been published in scientific literature since at least the
1950s. Many introductory chemistry texts which mention uranium point out
that uranium reacts with most all of the elements except the noble
gases. The fact is well known in the nuclear power industry, which has
been using airborne uranyl nitrate detectors in places where uranium
might react with air since at least the 1970s. I have no reason to
believe that Dr. Mishima or his associates deliberately suppressed the
basic fact, and his apparently forthright email responses, and his
reaction to the Salbu et al. paper linked above makes me think that he
was actually, somehow, simply unaware of it.   However, for anyone with
responsibilities he and his colleagues shouldered, there is absolutely
no excuse for not knowing any fact so vital to his specific research and
general field of study. As a layman, it took me less than two days of
library research to learn the reaction temperature.

6. Uranyl nitrate has a very low melting point compared to any of the
uranium oxides, and it has a very high vapor pressure, and precipitates
as a film. I haven't been able to determine exactly how long it stays
dissolved in air under different atmospheric conditions yet. (But I have
reason to believe that there are molecules of uranyl nitrate from DU
munitions used in Iraq currently in your lungs as you read this. Those
who know the magnitude of Avogadro's Number might not be as impressed
with that fact as others.)  Uranyl nitrate is much more poisonous than
any of the oxides. The extent of the toxicities involved need to be
determined.

7. In conclusion, because of Dr. Mishima and his colleagues' omissions,
everything the U.S. government has ever said about the safety of
pyrophoric DU munitions is invalid.

Essentially all contemporary uranium ordnance safety studies must be
redone in order to determine the extent of uranyl nitrate combustion
product emissions.

Sincerely,
James Salsman

---- additional commentary, excerpts, and references ----

It seems to me that since uranium will accumulate in testes, this
explains the increase in birth defects observed in children fathered
by Gulf War veterans, several years after exposure.  See, e.g.:

"Overall, the risk of any malformation among pregnancies reported
by men was 50% higher in Gulf War Veterans (GWV) compared with
Non-GWVs" -- http://ije.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/33/1/74

"Infants conceived postwar to male GWVs had significantly higher
prevalence of tricuspid valve insufficicieny (relative risk [RR], 2.7;
95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-6.6; p = 0.039) and aortic valve
stenosis (RR, 6.0; 95% CI, 1.2-31.0; p = 0.026) compared to infants
conceived postwar to nondeployed veteran males. Among infants of male
GWVs, aortic valve stenosis (RR, 163; 95% CI, 0.09-294; p = 0.011) and
renal agenesis or hypoplasia (RR, 16.3; 95% CI, 0.09-294; p = 0.011)
were significantly higher among infants conceived postwar than prewar."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12854660&dopt=Abstract

Here are some quotes with their full citations from "A review
of the effects of uranium and depleted uranium exposure on
reproduction and fetal development," in Toxicology and Industrial
Health, vol. 17, pp. 180-191 (2001), which is temporarily at:
     http://www.bovik.org/du/reproduction-review-2001.pdf

"In rats, there is strong evidence of DU accumulation in tissues
including testes, bone, kidneys, and brain."  Pellmar, T.C.,
Fuciarelli, A.F., Ejnik, J.W., Hamilton, M., Hogan, J., Strocko, S.,
Edmond, C., Mottaz, H.M. and Landauer, M.R. "Distribution of uranium
in rats implanted with depleted uranium pellets," Toxicol Sci,
vol. 49, pp. 29-39 (1999.)

"Degenerative changes in the testes resulting in aspermia in the
testes and epididymis ... apparently a result of uranyl nitrate"
Maynard, E.A., Downs, W.L. and Hodge, H.C., "Oral toxicity of
uranium compounds," in Voegtlin, C. and Hodge, H.C., editors,
Pharmacology and Toxicology of Uranium, Volume 3 (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1953), pp. 1221-1369.

"uranium exposure causes morphologic changes in the rat testes
possibly as the result of a uranium-induced autoimmune response.
... Average testes weight was significantly (P<0.05) decreased
in rats exposed to uranyl nitrate....  Titers of testicular
autoantibodies were described as fairly high for rats with chronic
exposure to uranium and the authors relate this finding to the
possibility that the observed testicular changes are an autoimmune
response to protein confirmation changes as a result of
uranium-protein interactions. Four other references are cited ...
as evidence of an interaction between uranium and the testes or
thyroid but are not reviewed here."  Malenchenko, A.F., Barkun, N.A.
and Guseva, G.F., "Effect of uranium on the induction and course of
experimental autoimmune orchitis and thyroiditis," J Hyg Epidemiol
Microbiol Immunol, vol. 22, pp. 268-277 (1978.)

"The number of female mice impregnated successfully was
significantly reduced at all levels of uranium exposure as
compared with negative controls."  Hu, Q. and Zhu, S., "Induction
of chromosomal aberrations in male mouse germ cells by uranyl
fluoride containing enriched uranium," Mutat Res, vol. 244,
pp. 209-214 (1990.)

Testicular injection with ... uranyl fluoride ... resulted in a
dose-dependent increase in chromosomal aberrations (i.e., DNA
breakage, SCEs) in spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes, and
mature sperm of adult mice."  Zhu, S.P., Hu, Q.Y. and Lun, M.Y.,
"Studies on reproductive toxicity induced by enriched uranium,"
Zhonghua Yu Fang Yi Xue Za Zhi, vol. 28, pp. 219-222 (1994.)

"existing data indicate that implanted DU translocates to the
rodent testes and ovary, the placenta, and fetus....  DU has
been shown to be genotoxic...."  Benson, K.A., Evaluation of
the health risks of embedded depleted uranium (DU) shrapnel on
pregnancy and offspring development, Annual Report No. 19981118
065 (October 1998.)  That quote also cites Pellmar, et al., as
above, and A. Miller et al., from the U.S. Armed Forces
Radiobiology Research Institute, whose work can be found on MEDLINE.

---- end of 3 April 2005 request to NRC Exec. Dir. for Ops. ----