[ RadSafe ] Tungsten Alloy Munitions Pose Unforeseen Threat -NIH research

[James Salsman]

Stewart Farber wrote:

> Regarding the long-running depleted U issue health risk thread, see the  
> recently published research summary about tungsten alloy munitions [a  
> suggested "benign alternative" to depleted U] and tungsten's unexpected  
> health threats....

Tungsten isn't pyrophoric, so it doesn't doesn't produce inhalable
vapors and dust when used as uranium does, and thus isn't likely to
be a wide-ranging hazard to soldiers and civilians as uranium is.
Shrapnel wounds are a risk, but less so overall.

Sincerely,
James Salsman

> The intro paragraph and link is given below.
> 
> Tungsten Alloy Munitions Pose Unforeseen Threat
> In response to concerns about the human and environmental health effects  
> of materials used to produce munitions, countries including the United  
> States have begun replacing some lead- and depleted uranium-based  
> munitions with alternatives made of a tungsten alloy. But this solution  
> may not be the "magic bullet" it was once envisioned to be. Researchers  
>  from the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute and the Walter Reed  
> Army Institute of Research now report that weapons-grade tungsten alloy  
> produces aggressive metastatic tumors when surgically implanted into the  
> muscles of rats [EHP 113:729-734]. These findings raise new questions  
> about the possible consequences of tungsten exposure, and undermine the  
> view that tungsten alloy is a nontoxic alternative to depleted uranium and  
> lead.
> 
> http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/113-6/ss.html#noma