Depleted uranium and public health

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7279.123

BMJ 2001;322:123-124 ( 20 January )

Editorials

Depleted uranium and public health

Fifty years' study of occupational exposure provides little evidence of cancer

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Depleted uranium, used in anti-tank weapons, provides a common thread that links concerns about leukaemia and other healtheffects in peacekeeping forces returned from the Balkans and worriesabout the environmental impact of debris from weapons in thiswar-weary segment of Europe. Unlike many agents that seem suddenlyto prompt health concerns,¹ however, we know quite a lot aboutthe health effects of depleteduranium.

Depleted uranium is derived from natural uranium mined from the earth's crust. Uranium is composed of three radioactive isotopes,U²³⁸, U²³⁵, and U²³⁴, which decay to other radioactive elements and ultimately tostable non-radioactive isotopes of lead.^2-4 Uranium isotopesemit $alpha$ particles during decay, which possess high energy but arepoorly penetrating. Thus, uranium poses primarily an internalradiation hazard to tissue in closeproximity.

Uranium is not very radioactive, owing to its isotopes' relatively long half lives (10⁵-10⁹ years). These compare . . . [Full text of this article]

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