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

[James Salsman]

Don Mercado wrote:

> I still haven't seen any evidence that a DU round hit causes "inhalable
> vapors and dust" of any concentration to warrant a concern. James, what
> is the dose from the claimed inhaled DU?

In the _Military Medicine_, vol. 168, no. 8 (2003), pp. 600-605 article
I cited a few minutes ago, the authors estimate an inhalation exposure
of only about 0.34 mg in five symptomatic ("Gulf War Illness") patients,
but I think they assumed a slower lung solubility than is really the
case.

Each 30 mm round of DU ordnance suspends on average about 60 grams of
elemental uranium in the form of various oxides in the air.  Of the
dust particles, about 18% are small enough to be absorbed right away.
Some amount of gaseous UO3 vapor is also produced, but nobody knows
exactly how much, yet:  more will come from a round burning on a
concave surface than a convex surface, for reasons of heat transfer.
30 mm DU ordnance is typically fired at about 20 rounds per second,
from an Apache helicopter's gun, for instance.  I have calculated
that just two seconds of such firing can result in plumes which might
result in multi-milligram inhalation exposures a kilometer away in a
6 km/h wind.  Franz Schönhofer thinks my calculations were wrong
somehow, but refuses to say why.

Sincerely,
James Salsman