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Originally Posted by The_Dunedan
The problem, as I understand it, occurs when DU dust gets inhaled. It adheres to the interior surface of the lungs and sinuses, and directly irradiates sensitive tissue. DU itself is not terribly radioactive, but when it gets stuck in there, it STAYs there, because it's so fine-grained. This is where the problems come in.
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That hits it right on the nose. When inhaled, there is a chance that the DU can irradiate the lungs, with alpha radiation, which has a chance of causing a gene defect.
But the idea that people could be getting irradiated from shell holes is ridiculous. Regular uranium can't even do that, and depleted uranium has almost half as much radiation as uranium, all of which is blocked by the skin. Also, DU as a cause of birth defects? Heh.
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Thus DU is clearly dangerous for people in vehicles which are military targets, but for anyone else - even in a war zone - there is little hazard. Ingestion or inhalation of uranium oxide dust resulting from the impact of DU munitions on their targets is the main possible exposure route. See also Appendix and WHO fact sheet on DU.
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Edit: You know, since I'm coming back from a discussion with a guy who entertained the notion that the CIA gassed the people in the planes and remote controlled them into the World Trade Center, I have to raise the following hypothetical: what if Saddam noticed all the attention DU was getting and decided to manufacture some evidence?
Just kidding.