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Merged Depleted uranium

Here is the MSDS for depleted Uranium;

http://www.ibilabs.com/URANIUM-MSDS.htm

Summary of Risk: Uranium and its salts are both toxic and radioactive. Dermatitis, renal damage, acute necrotic arterial lesions, and possibly death may occur from extreme exposure. Inhalation of fine uranium particles presents increased radiation hazards; isolated uranium particles in the lungs may be a long‑term cancer hazard. The more soluble uranium compounds are considered most toxic to the kidneys; the lung is the critical organ for insoluble respirable dusts or fines such as oxide powders. Uranium dusts are respiratory irritants, with coughing, shortness of breath as possible outcomes. Prolonged skin contact can cause damage to the basal cells. Radioactivity is the property of the spontaneous emissions of alpha or beta particles and gamma rays, by the disintegration of the nuclei of the atoms.
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Eligbak said:
I could post some pictures, but I guess we've all seen the disfigured Iraqui children. If you haven't, do a little googling for "Iraq birth defects".
Most effects on soldiers appear quite minor (on the whole) when compared to these really heavy deformities. But soldiers seem to have been affected as well, like British veteran Jenny Moore, who lost two children during pregnancy because of birth defects:
http://www.leighreporter.co.uk/leigh-news/Horrors-of-Gulf-War-come.330269.jp

The Doctor, the Depleted Uranium, and the Dying Children
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5146778547681767408

In addition to the "Gulf War syndrome", we also have a "Yugoslav War syndrome". It will be interesting to explain what other factors could account for this, except the use of some type on munition in the NATO bombardments of Ex-Yugoslavia during the 90's.

At least one Gulf war veteran has won a pension on grounds of contamination during service.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2004/feb/05/health.politicsandiraq
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Can you describe the evidence which points to DU as the cause of the birth defects?
 
neutrino_cannon said:
So, correct me if I'm wrong but a lot of the worry comes from the dead t-62 that just got turned into modern art by a 120 mm sabot (how can the handlers get very poisoned if the DU is in sabots anyway?) right? and the concern is mostly over chemical toxcicity, as there is probably some dust floating around in the air after the DU round tore itself apart after penetration.

Doesn't sound a whole lot worse than conventional shells, since it sounds that the U-238 is only modestly radioactive.
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The DU is in the dart, the sabots are very light weight and just designed to seal around the dart and contain the propellant gases while it's travelling up the barrel.

When the DU dart strikes the armour it becomes a very dense 'self-sharpening' plasma that burns through the armour, leaving fine powder residue over and in the target.

The radiation hazard is pretty minimal. On the downside if it's inhaled or injested it stays in the body longer than say radon (a common gas found in basaltic mountainous areas), but the rate of decay is very low. It's more likely to have chemical effects similar to lead poisoning.

I think there are likely to be far more health effects from the burning oil wells than from DU.
 
Eligbak said:
You could say that these guys have an agenda, but so does the other side. ;) If DU doesn't cause the medical conditions ascribed to it by "believers", what did?
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Burden of proof lies with those making the positive claim. You can't just ascribe every illness to DU and say "prove me wrong".
 
WildCat said:
Can you describe the evidence which points to DU as the cause of the birth defects?
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I guess I couldn't post anything that wouldn't be classified as "junk science" by you, and I'm not qualified to evaluate the evidence myself. But here you go:

Uranium Medical Research Centre, Toronto/Canada
http://www.umrc.net/
Results of the Port Hope Biological Study Project Announced
Findings of contamination of Port Hope residents and industry workers with radioactive materials was announced to the public yesterday in Toronto, Ontario at a press conference organized by the Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee. Contamination with either depleted uranium or uranium-236 was found in 4 of 9 test subjects. The study was peer reviewed last month at the European Association of Nuclear Medicine Annual Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Prof. Dr. Albrecht Schott, who did the genetic testing of British Gulf war veteran Kenny Duncan, hosts soveral documents on his "WODUC" (World Depleted Uranium Centre) page, none of which is purely scientific. They all have a strong activist streak, and the site is in German, unfortunately.

I'm still working my way through "The Doctor, the Depleted..." trying to find scientific references online.
 
Eligbak said:
I could post some pictures, but I guess we've all seen the disfigured Iraqui children. If you haven't, do a little googling for "Iraq birth defects".
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And I can post pictures of american children with birth defects. What does this prove by showing that someone is tying the birth defects in Iraq to the war. Seem to fit a lot of peoples agenda's to do so.
 
Eligbak said:
I'm not fixated on the idea it's depleted uranium, but the people seriously affected by this clearly deserve a sound answer.
Conversely, the British Ministery of Defense has not bothered to prove that 1st Gulf war veteran Kenny Duncan's genetic defects have not been caused by DU.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2004/feb/05/health.politicsandiraq
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Your own link admits that there is no evidence that DU caused the issues. We don't have to prove what it is, there are innumerable possibilities including just plain bad luck.
 
Mikemcc said:
The radiation hazard is pretty minimal.
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Try sneaking a used shell into a research laboratory. Chances are good you'll get arrested and fined for "exposing the public to radiation" - if you're German.
At least this is what one German scientists claims happened to him, Prof. Siegwart Horst Günther, in 1995. Don't know how it's in other countries.

How high is the radiation supposed to be, really?
 
No, three live threads on the same subject.

And don't think it's going to go away, folks! :D Not for a long, looooong time.
 
Eligbak said:
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You know, some people may consider it rude to bump multiple dead threads on the same subject. If you want to discuss something, try starting your own thread or confining the discussion to one place instead of spamming the forum.
 
Yes, and that's why I posted it.
"You" people are just complacently sitting on your asses. :mad:
Check the other link, to the Uranium Medical Research Centre (http://www.umrc.net/), and don't bother with the ********. If depleted uranium is implicated, it will be proven eventually. Meanwhile, don't smoke, breathe or drink it. :D
 
I must've missed the Iraqui attack on the US - could you post some pictures please? :D

This leads nowhere.
 
Larspeart said:
All DU shells are is denser and heavier. there is NO nuclear ability in them, no radiation (hence the DEPLETED part of the name). The military in the US uses them because they are much better at punching through armor because of the strength at which they hit, and the fact that they don't fall about/shatter as easily as other rounds. They work very well against tanks, bunkers, bases, airfields, armored vehicles, etc. They are no more effective against troops and other 'soft' targets then conventional ammo.
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That is not true. Depleted uranium is almost pure U238 where the easily fissioned U235 has been removed. However all Uranium isotopes are unstable and undergo radioactive decay of some sort; there are no elements with stable isotopes after lead.
The tern "nuclear" is fairly meaningless in this context; while U238 does not undergo significant spontanous fission in the manner of U235 it can be induced to fission and is used in the third stage booster of certain fusion bombs.

Uranium is, as had been mentioned, pyrophoric and helps ignite material inside the target.
 
I have a theory that cameras cause deformity in children. My evidence is that since they were invented I've seen a lot more pictures of deformed children.
 
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