Monitoring depleted uranium - Protecting the public against exposure

[donsu]

http://bigislandweekly.com/articles/2007/02/28/read/news/news02.txt


While weapons made with depleted uranium can penetrate any substance known to man, the issues surrounding the use of this radioactive, heavy metal are having a much harder time sinking in.

Here in Hawai`i, Linda Faye Kroll is a retired nurse who has dedicated her life to educating the public about the dangers of military toxics. When Representative Josh Green introduced H.B. 1452 this legislative session, he created a forum for Kroll and others to voice their concerns.

"Don't believe anything I tell you," Kroll cautions, "look into it for yourself." Advice that seems to be gaining momentum at the local and state levels as U.S. Senator Inouye once again pushes for an increase in the military presence here and citizens are raising concerns about the increase of pollution that, inevitably, comes with the deal. "Make no mistake, everything having to do with preparing and making war is toxic," says Kroll.

In fact, the U.S. Department of Defense is the single largest producer of pollution in the world.

-snip-

A recent Army report to Congress sheds light on DOD's predicament: If a link between the use of DU and the deaths and disabilities resulting from the Gulf War were established, the costs to the government would be astronomical. Here disabilities would also include the birth defects that are found in the returning soldiers' offspring.

The name of the organization Kroll founded to educate the public about the risks of DU is called "Ten Fingers, Ten Toes" -- a reference to the alarming incidence of birth defects found in areas where DU weapons have been used in Iraq and Kosovo. AFRRI also found DU produced chromosome damage and caused delayed reproductive death.

-snip-

Until August of 2005, when DU munitions were found at Schofield Barracks, people in Hawai`i who had concerns about the use of the radioactive substance were looking at this bigger picture. With the local discovery, the issue has hit home.

The EIS that was prepared for the Stryker Brigade stated that DU was never used in Hawai`i. Evidence to the contrary turned up after Kyle Kajihiro, of the American Friends Service Committee, made repeated FOIA requests and dredged through endless stacks of documents. He discovered a single paragraph revealing that DU was present in the ground at Schofield, forcing the Army to admit that they misrepresented the facts to the community, including Senator Daniel Inouye.

For a long time, the Navy has stored DU at Lualualei on O`ahu under its Naval Radioactive Materials permit. In 1994, two DU rounds were accidentally fired from Pearl Harbor; they landed above Aiea and have never been recovered.

-snip-

None of the cultural monitors were ever told about the dangers related to DU exposure. Whether or not the Army agrees that such dangers exist, their own guidelines require the use of protective gear for DU clean-up, including respirators. None of the personnel on base wore protective gear; none of the cultural monitors were informed about the presence of DU; none of them knew they should be taking precautions against exposure.

Just recently, Leimaile's sister who was assisting on site and pregnant at the time, gave birth to a child with a serious birth defect. The baby was born with it's intestines outside its body.

"We can't say for sure that the baby's defect came from DU," says Leimaile, "but there's a chance. We need to start monitoring."
----------------------------


talk about a time bomb .....

a golden lei for Linda Faye Kroll

[Jcrowley]

1. The silent genocide

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2383225

K&R

[donsu]

2. silent except for the wail and screams of despair from mothers

nt

[Monkeyman]

3. And their Children

[Jcrowley]

7. And so on

Kick

[lovuian]

4. Making war is toxic and the karma is that we are killing are own

soldiers... the absolute coldbloodedness and little concern for american lifes in the Bush administration is absolutely criminal

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Baghdad Hospital Children's Ward

In war and peace children are always amongst the most vulnerable of communities.

Iraq has been no exception.

In this episode, Alive in Baghdad takes you to the children’s ward of Baghdad Hospital, to make visible the plight of some very sick children, stricken with cancer by the presence of Depleted Uranium munitions, left over from the last to <sic> US wars in Iraq.

Despite official claims that so-called "Depleted" Uranium is mostly harmless, evidence continues to mount to the contrary. Rates of cancer and deformities in Iraq’s children have sky-rocketed since 1991.

Here are just a few of their stories.

http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2006/07/23/node230/

Direct link to the Quicktime .mov file:
http://blip.tv/file/get/Aliveinbaghdad-AiB_7BaghdadHospitalChildrensWard689.mov

[JohnyCanuck]

6. The Health Effects of depleted uranium weapons in Iraq

The Health Effects of depleted uranium weapons in Iraq
by Thomas Fasy MD PhD

snip

By the early 1900s, uranium was well recognized to be a kidney toxin. By the mid-1940s, uranium was known to be a neurotoxin. By the early 1970s, uranium was recognized to be a carcinogen based on mortality studies of uranium workers and on experiments with dogs and monkeys. The first evidence that uranyl ions bind to DNA was reported in 1949 and by the early 1990s, uranium was shown to be a mutagen. Also, in the early 1990s, uranium was shown to be a teratogen, that is, an inducer of birth defects. The toxic effects of uranium on the kidney and on the nervous system typically occur within days of exposure and radiation probably plays little or no role in mediating these effects. In contrast, the carcinogenic effects of uranium have a delayed onset. The teratogenic effects of uranium might be due to exposure of one parent prior to conception as well as to exposure of the mother to uranium early in pregnancy.

Now let us briefly consider the routes of exposure to uranium. In the context of the dust particles derived from depleted uranium weapons, this means exposure to uranium oxides. By far the most dangerous route of exposure to uranium oxides is the inhalational or respiratory route. Absorption of uranium oxides through the gastrointestinal tract, the skin and the conjunctivae is possible but quite limited.

Following impact with hard targets, uranium metal undergoes combustion releasing large quantities of very small uranium oxide dust particles into the environment.

These dust particles derived from depleted uranium weapons are drastically different from the natural uranium that is normally present in rocks and soil.

Soil particles contain uranium at very low concentrations, typically less than 5 parts per million; the vast majority of these soil particles, however, are too large to be inhaled deep into the lungs. In contrast, the dust particles derived from depleted uranium weapons contain very high concentrations of uranium, typically more than 500.000 parts per million; moreover, most of the D.U. dust particles are sufficiently small to be inhaled deep into the lungs. Thus, compared to the uranium naturally present in the environment, D.U. dust contains uranium in a form that is vastly more bio-available and more readily internalized.

Uranyl ions bind to DNA; they bind in the minor groove of DNA. While bound to DNA, uranyl ions are chemically reactive and can give rise to free radicals which may damage DNA. Chemically mediated DNA damage of this type may contribute to the ability of uranium to induce cancers.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4124449

[Kurovski]

8. Kick

I'm surprised this isn't getting more hits.

Previously recommended,

[JohnyCanuck]

9. I am not that surpised it doesn't draw many comments.

After the Agent Orange fiasco in Viet Nam, it's not pleasant to have to contemplate that 30 years later the US military would still deploy a WMD (depleted uranium) that causes birth defects and poisons and kills civilians and US troops alike. It illustrates the power the elite have to control the population and to do whatever the hell they want with no regard as to what the consequences will be for the cannon fodder and the "useless eaters." Most people don't want to face that fact that to the ruling classes their lives are worth less than fly shit and they still like to think that because they live in a democracy (I know the US is really a republic) they can effect change through the electoral process.

In Haig's presence,Kissinger referred pointedly to military men as "dumb, stupid animals to be used" as pawns for foreign policy (emphasis added). Kissinger often took up a post outside the doorway to Haig's office and dressed him down in front of the secretaries for alleged acts of incompetence with which Haig was not even remotely involved. Once when the Air Force was authorized to resume bombing of North Vietnam, the planes did not fly on certain days because of bad weather. Kissinger assailed Haig. He complained bitterly that the generals had been screamin for the limits to be taken off but that now their pilots were afraid to go up in a little fog. The country needed generals who could win battles, Kissinger said, not good briefers like Haig.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/06/266114.shtml

[fed-up]

10. kick/rec for the morning crew nt

[Kurovski]

11. Kick.(nt)