Reply #15: It's not the radioactivity that's a problem

[NickB79]

DU produces very little radiation compared to most other radioactive materials. It's extremely long half-life (4.5 billion yrs) should be a red flag to anyone claiming it is highly radioactive, because a highly radioactive material has a very short half-life. It is, however, a toxic heavy metal, and can cause serious long-term health problems and birth defects through this mode of action. Think of it as the nastier big brother of lead and mercury. You would die of the heavy metal poisoning of DU long, long before you would die from it's radioactivity.

This myth that DU is dangerous because of it's radiological properties, rather than due to it's heavy metal contamination properties, really hurts the cause of removing DU from military usage IMO. Instead of focusing on how it really kills, people rely on the scare factor of the radiation boogyman. It gets support for the anti-DU cause, but not in a truthful way, which I feel is wrong.