Subject:      [du-list] Guardian/Special reports on DU
     Date:      Wed, 21 Feb 2001 11:41:00 EST
     From:     Magnu96196@aol.com
 Reply-To:   du-list@yahoogroups.com
       To:        du-list@yahoogroups.com

Looks like the Brits just got caught hiding information and not reporting
DU lung retention known and cancer risks connected

MoD knew shells were cancer risk
      Special report: depleted uranium
          Richard Norton-Taylor   -Thursday January 11, 2001

   Army doctors warned four years ago that exposure to depleted uranium,
   which is used in US and British anti-tanks shells, increased the risk
   of developing lung, lymph and brain cancer.

   The warnings, in an internal MoD document, are in marked contrast
   to persistent public assurances - repeated by the armed forces
   minister, John Spellar, to the Commons on Tuesday - playing down the
   risk from DU.

   Its publicly stated view is that there is a potential but extremely
   small risk from soluble DU, a toxic chemical that could damage the
   kidneys. But an unpublished document by MoD medical experts, dated
   March 1997 and seen by the Guardian, paints a very different picture.

   "Inhalation of insoluble uranium dioxide dust will lead to
   accumulation in the lungs with very slow clearance - if any," it
   says: "Although chemical toxicity is low, there may be localised
   radiation damage of the lung leading to cancer."

   In a devastating passage under the heading "Risk assessment relating
   to Gulf war uranium exposure", it warns: "First and foremost, the
   risk of occupational exposure by inhalation must be reduced."

   It goes on to say: "All personnel... should be aware that uranium
   dust inhalation carries a long-term risk... [the dust] has been shown
   to increase the risks of developing lung, lymph and brain cancers." >>