Lebell- Thank you very much for bringing organization and sources to the side in support of DU. I was beginning to think no one was going to take a strong counterpoint.
That being said, I know that it seems the official stand of the military is that DU munitions are harmless. From your first link (
www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/du.htm), and I quote:
"Like naturally occurring uranium, DU has toxicological and radiological health risks. Toxicologically, DU poses a health risk when internalized. Radiologically, the radiation emitted by DU results in health risks from both external and internal exposures; however, the external exposure risk is very low. The magnitude of the toxicological and radiological health risks of internalized DU is dependent on the amount internalized, the chemical form and the route of entry into the body. DU can be internalized through inhalation, ingestion, wound contamination and, as in the case of DU fragments, injection. Both non-combat and combat scenarios can lead to DU health risks." (
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/l...html#principal , Health and Environmental Attributes, DU Toxicological and Radiological Health Effects.)
That quote elegantly restates what the anti-DU side has been saying; while seemingly harmless because of it's lack of effect externally, DU can become a health risk upon internalization.
The website goes on to say: "In non-combat scenarios, inhalation can occur during DU munitions testing, during accidental fires at facilities storing munitions or fires in vehicles loaded with munitions, and during operations that can resuspend DU particulates. Ingestion can occur from hand-to-mouth transfer of contamination or as the result of DU-contaminated food or water. Army safety and health programs are in place to minimize such exposures."
So, to summerize the findings presented to congress, DU munitions are not harmful externally, but they pose a health risk high enough to set up safty and health programs to help protect our soldiers.
From your second website, and I again quote:
"The behaviour of DU in the body is identical to that of natural uranium."
"Intake from wound contamination or embedded fragments in skin tissues may allow DU to enter the systemic circulation."
As a matter of fact, there is an entire section of the second link that is called "Potential health effects of exposure to depleted uranium". It reads similar to several posts already here.
You see the problem is that upon inhalation, the DU can be deposited via blood in a person's bones, brain, liver, lymph system, spleen, testes and other organs. It is in these locatiuons where the damage is done. The skin, amazingly, is able to block almost all toxic effects of DU. The problem is that if the DU bypasses the skin, through a wound or brake in the skin, ingestion, or inhalation, we are no longer protected from it's effects. The efffects, though not immediatally dangerous, compound over however many years that the DU is in the system. This constant, small amount of exposure in these vulnerable areas eventually becomes harmful.