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Several tons of uranium and a town called Colonie
June 27, 2007Recent 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. PhD research student Nicholas Lloyd has identified uranium oxide particulate that has survived more than 25 years in the environment, and depleted uranium contamination nearly 6 km from point of release.
The use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions by US and British forces has been highly controversial; on impact with armoured targets they shed uranium particulate that can be inhaled into the lungs. DU is both weakly radioactive and chemically toxic. Concerns raised by campaign groups have been the subject of numerous newspaper headlines, and it is frequently cited as a possible cause of Gulf War syndrome.
However, under the scrutiny of peer-review, scientific studies have so far failed to demonstrate a significant connection between inhalation exposure and human ill-health. One of the problems is that no studied non-occupational populations have been shown to have significant inhalation exposure to DU.
During the 1960s and '70s an estimated 5 tonnes of uranium was emitted into the environment, in a residential area of Colonie, NY, USA. Local residents are concerned that they were exposed to airborne particulate, and have campaigned for a health study. The current research could provide valuable baseline data for such a study.
The researchers led by Professor Randall Parrish collected hundreds of soil and dust samples last July, with the help of local residents and Dr John Arnason of SUNY at Albany. Soils and dusts have been examined using scanning electron microscopy, and reveal micrometer diameter uranium-rich particulate (invisible to the naked eye). These particles may be resuspended and inhaled. The samples have also been analysed by mass spectrometry, revealing contamination several hundreds of times greater than background near source, and trace contamination 35 cm below surface and as far afield as 5.8 km.
Nicholas said that the study by University of Leicester and the British Geological Survey aims to improve understanding of how depleted uranium particulate behaves in the environment. The study shows that uranium oxide particulate is both mobile and durable in the environment.
The research is being presented to the public at the University of Leicester on June 29. The Festival of Postgraduate Research introduces employers and the public to the next generation of innovators and cutting-edge researchers, and gives postgraduate researchers the opportunity to explain the real world implications of their research to a wide ranging audience.
University of Leicester
During the 1960s and '70s an estimated 5 tonnes of uranium was emitted into the environment, in a residential area of Colonie, NY, USA. Local residents are concerned that they were exposed to airborne particulate, and have campaigned for a health study. The current research could provide valuable baseline data for such a study.
The researchers led by Professor Randall Parrish collected hundreds of soil and dust samples last July, with the help of local residents and Dr John Arnason of SUNY at Albany. Soils and dusts have been examined using scanning electron microscopy, and reveal micrometer diameter uranium-rich particulate (invisible to the naked eye). These particles may be resuspended and inhaled. The samples have also been analysed by mass spectrometry, revealing contamination several hundreds of times greater than background near source, and trace contamination 35 cm below surface and as far afield as 5.8 km.
Nicholas said that the study by University of Leicester and the British Geological Survey aims to improve understanding of how depleted uranium particulate behaves in the environment. The study shows that uranium oxide particulate is both mobile and durable in the environment.
The research is being presented to the public at the University of Leicester on June 29. The Festival of Postgraduate Research introduces employers and the public to the next generation of innovators and cutting-edge researchers, and gives postgraduate researchers the opportunity to explain the real world implications of their research to a wide ranging audience.
University of Leicester
Uranium Current Events and Uranium News RSSCave Study Links Climate Change to California Droughts
California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic.
SNM applauds House action to build medical isotopes reactor in the US
SNM applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for its passage of H.R. 3276-the American Medical Isotopes Production Act of 2009.
Heavy metals accumulate more in some mushrooms than in others
A research team from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) has analysed the presence of heavy metals in 12 species of mushroom collected from non-contaminated natural areas, and has found that the levels vary depending on the type of mushroom.
Report examines hidden costs of energy production and use
A new report from the National Research Council examines and, when possible, estimates "hidden" costs of energy production and use -- such as the damage air pollution imposes on human health -- that are not reflected in market prices of coal, oil, other energy sources, or the electricity and gasoline produced from them.
Study in Spain and Romania confirms radon as second leading cause of lung cancer
Exposure to radon gas in homes is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking, according to a study carried out by researchers from the University of Cantabria and the Babes-Bolyai University in Romania.
Superheavy Element 114 Confirmed: A Stepping Stone to the Island of Stability
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have been able to confirm the production of the superheavy element 114, ten years after a group in Russia, at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, first claimed to have made it.
Guide on lung cancer in 'never-smokers': A different disease and different treatments
A committee of scientists led by Johns Hopkins investigators has published a new guide to the biology, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in never-smokers, fortifying measures for what physicians have long known is a very different disease than in smokers.
MU researcher uses bacteria to make radioactive metals inert
The Lost Orphan Mine below the Grand Canyon hasn't produced uranium since the 1960s, but radioactive residue still contaminates the area.
Using waste to recover waste uranium
Using bacteria and inositol phosphate, a chemical analogue of a cheap waste material from plants, researchers at Birmingham University have recovered uranium from the polluted waters from uranium mines.
Hydrogen protects nuclear fuel in final storage
When Sweden's spent nuclear fuel is to be permanently stored, it will be protected by three different barriers. Even if all three barriers are damaged, the nuclear fuel will not dissolve into the groundwater, according to a new doctoral dissertation from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.
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