[ RadSafe ] Depleted Uranium Activists

[James Salsman]

Roger Helbig wrote:

 >... I welcome contact with any of you who have information to
 > share about the hyping of depleted uranium as being a genocidal
 > "Trojan horse nuclear" weapon and the threat it poses to the
 > American soldier and the even more important Iraqi civilian.

I know just what it's like to be lied to about the effects of
uranium inhalation exposure.  Nobody has yet bothered to develop
a long-term toxicological profile of uranyl compound inhalation
exposure, even though they are all known reproductive and
developmental toxins.

That hasn't stopped credentialed authorities from repeatedly
claiming that uranium inhalation exposure is generally safe in
low doses, and it hasn't stopped credentialed authorities from
failing to mention the fact that uranium is a known
reproductive and developmental toxin in documents where they
purportedly discuss the risks of uranium exposure.

The birth defect rate in Basrah has gone up about ten times in
the past fifteen years, and the increase in Gulf War veterans was
50% as of 1999.  Sadly, both trends have been increasing and
accelerating.

The Federal Register recently published my rulemaking petition for
recognition of the developmental and reproductive toxicity of heavy
metals (70 FR 34699):

http://ruleforum.llnl.gov/cgi-bin/downloader/PRM_2026_lib/1563-0001.htm?printable=1
http://www.bovik.org/du/NRC-PRM-20-26.pdf

I hope you will consider reporting your findings in a comment.

 > It is time that [anti-DU activists] are stopped with a concentrated
 > factual offensive or the American soldier will lose its one-shot
 > one-kill tank killing capability inherent in DU munitions.

Sadly, I'm afraid that our possession of depleted uranium munitions
forms a clear and convincing argument by our potential enemies to
develop their own depleted weapon armor and ordnance capabilities,
which would mean, in turn, that they would have access to the
entire fuel cycle including uranium enrichments.

If we persist in holding on to these super-bullets, then our
potential adversaries will have no alternative but to clandestinely
develop counter-measures including similar munitions, DU armor,
and atomic bombs.

 > I know enough to know that these folks are lying and that they
 > don't know what they are talking about, but I sure can use
 > some professional help

 From the peer-reviewed medical literature:

"Overall, the risk of any malformation among pregnancies reported by men 
was 50% higher in Gulf War Veterans (GWV) compared with Non-GWVs"
-- Doyle et al. Int. J. Epidemiol..2004; 33: 74-86.

"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."
-- Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2003 Apr;67(4):246-60.

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 (P0.05) 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. 19981118065 (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 and here:
http://www.bovik.org/du/Miller-DNA-damage.pdf

For more information please see:
http://www.bovik.org/du/chromosome-abberations.pdf
http://www.bovik.org/du/devtox-mice.pdf
http://www.bovik.org/du/inhalation-est.pdf 
http://www.bovik.org/du/5_Durakovic.pdf
http://www.bovik.org/du/4_Durakovic.pdf

Sincerely,
James Salsman