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[Reuters]

Small Study Finds Uranium in Gulf War Vets
Tue Sep 10, 5:25 PM ET

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A small study of British, Canadian and US
veterans with Gulf War (news -  web sites) illness found that just over
half tested positive for depleted uranium.

Whether exposure to depleted uranium--used in munitions fired in the
Persian Gulf War as well as in conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo--is a factor
in Gulf War illness is uncertain, but the findings highlight the need for
more research on its health effects, Leonard Dietz, a co-author of the
study, told Reuters Health.

"This is the first measurement of Gulf War veterans for depleted uranium
using the best current scientific analytical methodology," Dietz said.
Although he noted that it would be premature to say that depleted uranium
is a factor in Gulf War illness, he added, "this limited sample of veterans
isn't even the tip of the iceberg."

It is possible that many soldiers were exposed to depleted uranium during
the Gulf War, but the study does not provide enough information on the
extent of this exposure, according to Dr. Brian G. Spratt of Imperial
College in London, who led a Royal Society expert panel that drafted a
report on the health risks of depleted uranium.

"If the data in the paper are reliable, they are telling us that a
substantial proportion of veterans from the Gulf War were exposed to
depleted uranium," Spratt told Reuters Health. "This may be politically
important to the veterans, but the key question is not whether they were
exposed, but to how much were they exposed."

He noted that the study did not include a "control" group of people who
were not veterans of the Gulf War.

"It is therefore not clear whether people who never went to the Gulf
sometimes show signs of depleted uranium in urine," he said. "There are
those who claim that depleted uranium is increasingly in the environment,
and this makes a control group important."

The health effects of exposure to depleted uranium, a heavy metal used in
armor-piercing munitions, is a hotly debated topic. Depleted uranium emits
low levels of radiation, and there are concerns that exposure to the metal
may increase the risk of leukemia, lung cancer and other illnesses.

According to the Royal Society panel led by Spratt, soldiers or civilians
who breathe in or are otherwise exposed to high levels of depleted uranium
may be at increased risk of kidney damage. Exposure may also lead to a
small increase in the risk of lung cancer, but not leukemia, the panel
notes. The panel recommended continued study of the health effects of
depleted uranium, but concluded that the health risks were very low for
most soldiers.

In the new study, led by Col. Asaf Durakovic of the Uranium Medical
Research Center in Washington, DC, researchers analyzed the urine of 27
British, Canadian and US Gulf War veterans. According to a report in the
August issue of the journal Military Medicine, all of the participants had
Gulf War illness and all had inhaled depleted uranium during their service
in the Persian Gulf 8 to 9 years before.

Fourteen of the urine samples tested positive for depleted uranium. The
researchers also detected depleted uranium in the lung and bone of one Gulf
War veteran who had died.

The results underscore the need for further study on how exposure to
uranium dust may be harmful to human health, the authors conclude.

In his comments to Reuters Health, Dietz said that the extent of exposure
to depleted uranium during the Gulf War has not been well examined.

"Many tens of thousands of veterans were exposed to depleted uranium
aerosol fallout particles during the 4 days of ground battles in Kuwait and
Iraq," Dietz stated. "Additional tens of thousands were exposed because
they entered, crawled on, sat on, touched or kicked up dust by walking
around Iraqi tanks and other vehicles destroyed by depleted uranium metal
penetrators used in cannon rounds."

SOURCE: Military Medicine 2002;167:620-627.

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MEDLINE:

IS  - 0026-4075
VI  - 167
IP  - 8
DP  - 2002 Aug
TI  - The quantitative analysis of depleted uranium isotopes in British,
      Canadian, and U.S. Gulf War veterans.
PG  - 620-7
AB  - The purpose of this work was to determine the concentration and ratio of
      uranium isotopes in allied forces Gulf War veterans. The 27 patients had
      their 24-hour urine samples analyzed for 234U, 235U, 236U, and 238U by
      mass spectrometry. The urine samples were evaporated and separated into
      isotopic dilution and concentration fraction by the chromatographic
      technique. The isotopic composition was measured by a thermal ionization
      mass spectrometer using a secondary electron multiplier detector and
      ion-counting system. The uranium blank control and SRM960 U isotopic
      standard were analyzed by the same procedure. Statistical analysis was
      done by an unpaired t test. The results confirm the presence of depleted
      uranium (DU) in 14 of 27 samples, with the 238U:235U ratio > 207.15.
This
      is significantly different from natural uranium (p < 0.008) as well as
      from the DU shrapnel analysis, with 22.22% average value of DU fraction,
      and warrants further investigation.
AD  - Department of Earth Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St.
      Johns, Canada. horan@morgan.ucs.mun.ca
FAU - Horan, Patricia
AU  - Horan P
FAU - Dietz, Leonard
AU  - Dietz L
FAU - Durakovic, Asaf
AU  - Durakovic A
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
CY  - United States
TA  - Mil Med
JID - 2984771R
SB  - IM
EDAT- 2002/08/22 10:00
MHDA- 2002/08/22 10:00
PST - ppublish
SO  - Mil Med 2002 Aug;167(8):620-7.
TI-MS - Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer