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RE: Uranium blamed for Gulf War Syndrome (BBC)
Hi, Mike,
I'm not sure what you are trying to say here? The original thread was my
musings on whether or not any uranium miner worker groups ever displayed
any illnesses or symptoms similar to the GWS. The question regarded the
exposure to the element uranium. Exploded DU rounds oxidize to uranium
oxide or dioxide in particulate form. U miners mine uranium ore (such as
uraninite (UP2) and pitchblende (pitchblende can contain up to 55-75% UO2).
These two types of ore are found in uranium mines in Colorado and Utah.
The operation of mining U does produce uranium dust, sometimes a lot of it.
The comparison I was trying to make is that if U miners who are/were
chronically exposed don't exhibit GWS then GW vets probably they need to
look elsewhere for the cause of their medical problems.
Laurie Taylor
laurie-taylor@uiowa.edu
At 10:15 AM 2/5/99 -0600, you wrote:
>Some how I did not get the original portion of this thread related to Gulf
>War syndrome and depleted uranium exposure. The main nuclides which cause
>exposure in uranium mines are not uranium, but radium, and the progeny of
>radon. There is also a shallow dose from Th 234 and Pa 234, which is not
>recorded on the TLD because it is worn inside the hard hat. As stated
>before the biological half life of uranium is very short, and the DAC value
>is very high. Also one must consider that "ore" is not "fresh" uranium
>oxide (which when produced is almost exclusively an alpha emitter, and
>builds up to Th 234 and Pa 234 beta emitters). "Ore" has been in place for
>millions of years and is FULL of radium and its progeny. The gammas from
>radium are how "ore" is located and quantified underground. Uranium "dust"
>is not a great hazard, and does not really exist alone (without Ra,Th, Pa,
>and Rn) in a mine, although it can be found alone at a mill.
>
>There is huge database related to U miners exposure and health conditions.
>I believe that the NIH owns it. Studies are still being conducted, the
>mobile health survey comes to Espanola NM twice a year and free health
>evaluations are available to all miners. You could look for the database
>at NIH or NIOSH. The Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) might also
>be able to supply data.
>
>Mike Dempsey
>
>Strictly my own opinion.
>
>At 02:46 PM 2/4/99 -0600, you wrote:
>>I was an underground uranium miner for seven years. My whole body and
>>internal exposure (gamma and WLMs) for the last 4 years of that was 5 REM
>>each year. We ate ( with ore falling on us), drank (sometimes mine water)
>>and did all our business underground every day. I have had 4 whole body
>>counts and yearly bioassay here al LANL and my internal deposition is
>>reported as NDA (no detectable activity). This has a lot to do with the
>>fact that the Biological half life of uranium is 9-15 days (depends on
>>which source you look at.) So I doubt that and Depleted Uranium would be
>>found in anyone, or that it has done any harm. The 10CFR835 Weekly DAC for
>>U-238 is 150 times higher than for Pu-239, which has a biological half life
>>of 200 years.
>>
>>
>>My own opinion.
>>
>>Mike Dempsey
>>
>>At 02:15 PM 2/4/99 -0600, you wrote:
>>>Interesting thought. Just coming from a "makes sense" viewpoint it
>>>would seem there could be a correlation drawn since the Uranium miners
>>>would seem to be exposed to a higher concentration and a longer period
>>>of time. Sounds like something to research further.
>>>
>>>Chris A. Marthaller RRPT
>>>Phone (505) 234-8661
>>>Sr. Training Coordinator - WIPP
>>>ChrisM@wipp.carlsbad.nm.us
>>>Obviously, only my own views
>>>
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Laurie Taylor [mailto:laurie-taylor@uiowa.edu]
>>>Sent: Thursday, February 04, 1999 12:38 PM
>>>To: Multiple recipients of list
>>>Subject: Re: Uranium blamed for Gulf War Syndrome (BBC)
>>>
>>>
>>>I don't intend to minimize anyone's suffering and I may be way off base
>>>-
>>>but I'm wondering if any information exists regarding if any uranium
>>>miner
>>>worker populations (since they would have been exposed to uranium dusts)
>>>experienced any ill effects (besides lung cancer) similar to those being
>>>experienced by those vets with Gulf War Syndrome ? Could any
>>>correlation
>>>be drawn between uranium dust in mines and depleted uranium inhalation
>>>during the war? Any thoughts or comments out there?
>>>
>>>Laurie Taylor
>>>laurie-taylor@uiowa.edu
>>>
>>>
>>>At 12:52 PM 2/4/99 -0600, you wrote:
>>>>Has anyone measured internal deposition of uranium in persons with
>>>>the Gulf War Syndrome purportedly caused by depleted uranium?
>>>>
>>>>Tom
>>>>
>>>>> Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 10:54:39 -0600 (CST)
>>>>> From: Sandy Perle <sandyfl@earthlink.net>
>>>>> Subject: Uranium blamed for Gulf War Syndrome (BBC)
>>>>> To: Multiple recipients of list
<radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
>>>>> Reply-to: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
>>>>
>>>>> Tuesday, February 2, 1999 Published at 23:00 GMT - BBC
>>>>>
>>>>> Uranium blamed for Gulf War Syndrome
>>>>>
>>>>> Exploding missiles tipped with uranium exposed servicemen to the
>>>>> toxic metal
>>>>>
>>>>> Sixteen British Gulf War veterans say they have proof they are
>>>>> suffering from radiation poisoning, caused by materials in the
>>>>> weapons used by the Allies.
>>>>>
>>>>> The men believe this could be a factor in Gulf War Syndrome, the
>>>>> condition which thousands of soldiers say they developed after
>>>>> serving in the region.
>>>>>
>>>>> In Iraq, doctors also say children have been deformed by the same
>>>>> radiation.
>>>>>
>>>>> Shaun Rusling served in the Gulf War and today, he takes a dozen
>>>>> different drugs to treat a catalogue of illnesses, from chronic fatigue
>>>>> and post-traumatic stress disorder to problems with the nervous
>>>>> system and depression.
>>>>>
>>>>> Doctors have diagnosed him as suffering from Gulf War Syndrome.
>>>>>
>>>>> The Ministry of Defence says the syndrome as such does not
>>>>> exist, so Mr Rusling and two of his fellow Gulf veterans, Mike
>>>>> Kirkby and Mike Burrows, have been desperately seeking reasons
>>>>> for the illnesses since their return from the war zone.
>>>>>
>>>>> They say independent tests carried out in Canada revealing they
>>>>> and 13 other veterans have uranium radiation poisoning may at last
>>>>> provide some answers.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mr Rusling says: "Basically we have just been diagnosed with a
>>>>> bone disease...that is where depleted uranium finishes - in your
>>>>> bones.
>>>>>
>>>>> "I'm saddened by our treatment by the Ministry of Defence because
>>>>> we went out to do our job.
>>>>>
>>>>> "I treated Iraqi casualties with more care and compassion than this
>>>>> government has treated me," he adds.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mr Rusling believes it was while serving with a field hospital unit
>>>>> that he was exposed to depleted uranium in dust form.
>>>>>
>>>>> A by-product of weapons grade uranium, which in most forms is
>>>>> perfectly safe to handle, depleted uranium was used by British and
>>>>> American forces on the tips of missiles to devastating effect.
>>>>>
>>>>> Controversially, the veterans say they ingested tiny particles of the
>>>>> toxic metal after the missiles burned up in the atmosphere.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mr Kirkby says: "They were blowing locations up and we were
>>>>> driving through bodies and blown -up tanks. You were breathing all
>>>>> the smoke and the dust off the sand."
>>>>>
>>>>> In Iraq, there is no shortage of tragic stories about families whose
>>>>> children have a wide range of birth deformities.
>>>>>
>>>>> Professor Selma Al-Tah, a paediatrician in Baghdad, believes her
>>>>> studies demonstrate a link with depleted uranium and the many
>>>>> terrible genetic defects.
>>>>>
>>>>> "A lot of cases are really monsters. Some of them have no necks,
>>>>> their appearance or their facial appearance is completely
>>>>> distorted", she says.
>>>>>
>>>>> No matter how many examples there are of terrible deformities or
>>>>> leukemia, Iraq's hospitals are so badly off that proving a link with
>>>>> depleted uranium will be difficult, if not impossible, without the
>>>>> proper resources.
>>>>>
>>>>> But the fact that similar cases have also been identified among the
>>>>> families of British and American soldiers who served during the Gulf
>>>>> War, is regarded as too much of a coincidence.
>>>>>
>>>>> The Ministry of Defence's medical team is highly sceptical about
>>>>> these latest reports.
>>>>>
>>>>> However, a spokesman said it would be happy to study any new
>>>>> tests which may shed light on the many and varied conditions
>>>>> affecting Gulf War veterans.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tuesday, families of veterans also criticised a government
>>>>> report, released last week, which said Gulf War Syndrome did not
>>>>> exist in the form of one condition.
>>>>>
>>>>> The report, by doctors working in the Ministry of Defence's Medical
>>>>> Assessment Programme and released last Thursday, said soldiers
>>>>> who fought in the 1991 war had developed illnesses, but no single
>>>>> psychological or physiological cause was found.
>>>>>
>>>>> The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association said the
>>>>> report was "an outrageous attempt to cover up Gulf War illness".
>>>>>
>>>>> Sandy Perle
>>>>> E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
>>>>> Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
>>>>>
>>>>> "The object of opening the mind, as of opening
>>>>> the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
>>>>> - G. K. Chesterton -
>>>>> ************************************************************************
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>>>>Tom Mohaupt, MS, CHP
>>>>Wright State University
>>>>Radiation Safety Officer
>>>>
>>>>Voice: (937) 775-2169
>>>>Fax: (937) 775-3301
>>>>E-mail: tom.mohaupt@wright.edu
>>>>Address: 104 Health Sciences Bldg, Wright State University
>>>> Dayton, OH 45435
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