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Tests to reveal levels of depleted uranium in Army personnel
March 06, 2007A test recently used by the UK government's Independent Depleted Uranium Oversight Board to detect exposure to UK troops by depleted uranium (DU) during the 1991 Gulf Conflict was developed by a team led by a University of Leicester geologist.
Randall Parrish, Professor of Isotope Geology, developed the test with Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Axel Gerdes, who now works at the University of Frankfurt, Germany, and his colleague Matt Horstwood at the British Geological Survey, using advanced mass spectrometry.
Prof Parrish's team has tested more than 350 individuals as part of the programme, with the result that none so far tested had any demonstrable DU exposure resulting from their participation in the 1991 Gulf Conflict, though the extent of actual initial exposure of tested individuals to DU is unknown.
Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product from the manufacture of enriched uranium, used for fuel in nuclear reactors or in weapons. It is 60 per cent as radioactive as natural uranium.
Because of its hardness, it has been used in engineering projects, as well as in the construction of military tanks and anti-tank weapons, such as those used in the 1991 Gulf War, in Bosnia in 1994-5, Kosovo in 1999 and in the latest conflict in Iraq.
While DU weapons can reduce casualties amongst the forces using them, there may be long-term risks to the health of those exposed to them, either through shrapnel wounds or inhalation, and risks, also, to the environment.
The test was designed to detect after 15 years even a modest exposure to DU, on the basis of accepted knowledge about the retention and solubility of DU in the human body. The test is applicable even to those who excrete extremely low levels of uranium in urine.
Professor Parrish's and his colleagues' work, undertaken to help in the planning of the UK DU testing programme, explored the sensitivity and accuracy of urine tests to measure uranium concentrations and isotope ratios.
The testing programme was set up in 2001, to investigate concerns amongst UK Service personnel from the Balkans and the 1991 Gulf War, following media coverage about Depleted Uranium.
Professor Parrish commented: "Dr Gerdes and I continue to collaborate on this test, which is by far the most sensitive and accurate of all uranium isotope test for urine worldwide. It uses multiple isotopes to ascertain the extent of contamination.
"Our facility has used this test in the monitoring of more than 400 UK veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, under the testing programme administered by the Depleted Uranium Oversight Board over the past two and a half years - a testing programme that is nearly finished.\\\
University of Leicester
Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product from the manufacture of enriched uranium, used for fuel in nuclear reactors or in weapons. It is 60 per cent as radioactive as natural uranium.
Because of its hardness, it has been used in engineering projects, as well as in the construction of military tanks and anti-tank weapons, such as those used in the 1991 Gulf War, in Bosnia in 1994-5, Kosovo in 1999 and in the latest conflict in Iraq.
While DU weapons can reduce casualties amongst the forces using them, there may be long-term risks to the health of those exposed to them, either through shrapnel wounds or inhalation, and risks, also, to the environment.
The test was designed to detect after 15 years even a modest exposure to DU, on the basis of accepted knowledge about the retention and solubility of DU in the human body. The test is applicable even to those who excrete extremely low levels of uranium in urine.
Professor Parrish's and his colleagues' work, undertaken to help in the planning of the UK DU testing programme, explored the sensitivity and accuracy of urine tests to measure uranium concentrations and isotope ratios.
The testing programme was set up in 2001, to investigate concerns amongst UK Service personnel from the Balkans and the 1991 Gulf War, following media coverage about Depleted Uranium.
Professor Parrish commented: "Dr Gerdes and I continue to collaborate on this test, which is by far the most sensitive and accurate of all uranium isotope test for urine worldwide. It uses multiple isotopes to ascertain the extent of contamination.
"Our facility has used this test in the monitoring of more than 400 UK veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, under the testing programme administered by the Depleted Uranium Oversight Board over the past two and a half years - a testing programme that is nearly finished.\\\
University of Leicester
Depleted Uranium Current Events and Depleted Uranium News RSSFungi have a hand in depleted uranium's environmental fate
Fungi may have an important role to play in the fate of potentially dangerous depleted uranium left in the environment after recent war campaigns, according to a new report in the May 6th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.
Contamination from depleted uranium found in urine 20 years later
Inhaled depleted uranium (DU) oxide aerosols are recognised as a distinct human health hazard and DU has been suggested to be responsible in part for illness in both military and civilian populations that may have been exposed.
Several tons of uranium and a town called Colonie
Recent research by the Department of Geology at University of Leicester, and at the British Geological Survey aims to improve understanding of how depleted uranium particulate behaves in the environment.
Sandia completes depleted uranium study
Sandia National Laboratories has completed a two-year study of the potential health effects associated with accidental exposure to depleted uranium (DU) during the 1991 Gulf War.
Are Gulf war veterans getting better?
Gulf war veterans still have considerably poorer health than other military personnel, but the health gap has narrowed slightly, finds a study in this week's BMJ. A second study shows no increased risk of cancer among Gulf war veterans. The first study compared the health of members of the UK armed forces who served in the 1991 Gulf war with non-deployed military personnel over a four-year period. Gulf war veterans experienced a modest reduction in fatigue and psychological distress, but a slight worsening of physical functioning. Gulf war veterans continue to experience symptoms that are considerably worse than other military personnel, say the authors. However, Gulf war veterans are not de
New research on depleted uranium in the environment
The Natural Environment Research Council has today advertised for research proposals from scientists wishing to study the effect of depleted uranium on the environment. The study is in response to needs identified by the Ministry of Defence and will cost £1.2 million. The main objectives of the NERC programme will be to consider the transport, uptake and behaviour of depleted uranium in terrestrial and marine environments. The programme will cover some of the key environmental factors also identified in the Royal Society report, "The Health Hazards of DU Munitions, Part II". The proposed work includes how depleted uranium moves through the environment, what changes happen to
Depleted uranium shells make a deadly playground
EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY 24 JULY 2001 19:00 BST UK CONTACT - Claire Bowles, New Scientist Press Office, London: Tel: +44(0)20 7331 2751 or email claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk SOIL in the Gulf and the Balkans that`s contaminated with debris from spent depleted uranium weapons presents far too high a risk to local children, an Italian study confirms. Playing in the soil dramatically raises the children`s chances of getting cancer and kidney damage. This is just one conclusion from a clutch of new studies into the safety or otherwise of DU, which the military uses in shells designed to pierce the armour plating of tanks. The Italian team says that children living in areas of conflict that have bee
Science & Public Affairs - February 2001
In this month's Science & Public Affairs"¦ The government's scientific advisory committees; science in sport; depleted uranium; the future of agriculture; the Airbus super-jumbo; R&D in Finland; e-democracy; researchers' views on science communication; technology and crime prevention. Editorial Challenges and uncertainties Professor David King, Chief Scientific Adviser, discusses the role of scientific advisory committees. Professor King notes that: "if we are to take advantage of new advances in science we need wide and open discussion of both their benefits and also of worries and unintended consequences, in ways that command public confidence and trust." The advisory committees need t
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