U.S. Documents on Depleted Uranium

Several U.S. government documents describe the effects of depleted uranium on human beings. Consider the following:

“Personnel inside or near vehicles struck by DU penetrators could receive significant internal exposures.” ~ Army Environmental Policy Institute, Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted Uranium Use in the US Army, June 1995.

“Short-term effects of high doses can result in death, while long-term effects of low doses have been implicated in cancer.” ~ Science Applications International Corporation report, included as Appendix D of AMMCOM’s Kinetic Energy Penetrator Long Term Strategy Study, Danesi, July 1990 (completed six months before Desert Storm).

“Inhaled insoluble oxides stay in the lungs longer and pose a potential cancer risk due to radiation. Ingested DU dust can also pose both a radioactive and a toxicity risk.” ~ Operation Desert Storm: Army Not Adequately Prepared to Deal With Depleted Uranium Contamination, US General Accounting Office (GAO/NSIAD-93-90), January 1993.

Despite the government’s own documentation, the Final Report: Presidential Advisory Committee of Gulf War Veterans Illnesses, December 1996 made the following denial:

“The Committee concludes that it is unlikely that health effects reports by Gulf War Veterans today are the result of exposure to depleted uranium during the Gulf War.”