Depleted Uranium questions

[NoXion]

OK, I have seen a lot of fuss made over this material recently, and I'm wondering whether all this concern is at all grounded in reality.

Just how radioactive is DU? I was under the impression that it really wasn't all that radioactive, perhaps not that much more than natural background radiation.

Does it really "aerosol" as I have heard some people claim it does? I would have thought that it's self-sharpening properties would have prevented such a thing.

Persuivant to my first question, exactly how much DU would have to be used in weaponry in order for radiation levels to become a significant health risk? I've heard a lot of claims that birth defects in Iraq have increased significantly, but I'm skeptical since I have no reason to believe that the increase in birth defects (If it is real) is correlated in any way to the use of DU.

[Beowulf]

DU is actually less radioactive than the background. It's primary health hazard is due to the fact that it's a heavy metal. It's like lead poisoning. DU is pyrophoric, which means that when it hits the target, it's going to spontaneously ignite. This spreads particulate uranium oxide around. If the round hits the ground, however, it's going to just burrow into it for a ways. It's not going to ignite or anything. It's an extremely localized effect. Don't go walking around destroyed tanks, and you'll be fine.

[Sea Skimmer]

OK, I have seen a lot of fuss made over this material recently, and I'm wondering whether all this concern is at all grounded in reality.

Just how radioactive is DU? I was under the impression that it really wasn't all that radioactive, perhaps not that much more than natural background radiation.

Actually it’s less radioactive then normal background levels, and is less radioactive then some dirt. The whole point of depleted uranium is the radioactive stuff got removed as much as was possible for use in nuclear reactors and nuclear bombs.

Also since DU only emits alpha radiation and alpha radiation cannot penetrate human skin the only way it can harm you is if it is ingested. But the main threat from DU when ingested is NOT radioactivity; it’s the fact that it is a toxic heavy metal, just like lead or mercury. DU will kill you from heavy metal poisoning long before the radiation will do anything. It realistically will not cause cancer or other genetic damage

Does it really "aerosol" as I have heard some people claim it does? I would have thought that it's self-sharpening properties would have prevented such a thing.

Dust is created when it strikes steel. That self sharpening effect requires the tip of the penetration to actually peel away, and a portion of it is ground to dust in the process.
But when you shoot a lead bullet at metal some of the lead also becomes toxic dust. We've been shooting billions of rounds of lead ammo around for a long time... heck people have even suffered lead posioning because of bullets lodged inside their bodies.

Persuivant to my first question, exactly how much DU would have to be used in weaponry in order for radiation levels to become a significant health risk?

You will die of liver and kidney failure from the toxic effects first. I don't know what the exact qaunity required for this is.

I've heard a lot of claims that birth defects in Iraq have increased significantly, but I'm skeptical since I have no reason to believe that the increase in birth defects (If it is real) is correlated in any way to the use of DU.

Yeah those claims are totally without any proof or backing. People show photos of these supposed DU caused defects all the time, yet how do you know a photo of a birth defect was caused by DU? That’s just not possible.
Plus the Iraqi standard of living and health and sanitation system was also hard hit by the Gulf War, providing a whole range of other reasons why birth defects and infant mortality would have risen.

Also, while people love to attack the US and UK for using DU in combat, the reality is that about 20 nations have weapons employing depleted uranium ammunition. How many of them have used it in combat isn't known.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

OK, I have seen a lot of fuss made over this material recently, and I'm wondering whether all this concern is at all grounded in reality.

Just how radioactive is DU? I was under the impression that it really wasn't all that radioactive, perhaps not that much more than natural background radiation.

As others have said, DU isn't very radioactive at all. The half-life of U238 is 4.5 billion years, so the uranium decays very slowly (As it will take 4.5 billion years for half of a given hunk of U-238 to decay into its daughter products.) While the daughter products are rather more radioactive (the next two elements on U-238's decay chain, Thorium-234 and Proactinium-234 have half-lives of 24.1 days and 1 minute respectively, though the Uranium-234 they produce has a half-life of 245,000 years,) it will produce so few daughter products over the lifetime of a human being that their higher radioactivities will amount to precisely jack.

The main concern from depleted uranium is that, as far as chemical toxicity is concerned, it behaves in much the same fashion as lead.

[Broomstick]

Another person chiming in - DU's health effects aren't from radiation, they're from chemical toxicity.

Although I would like to say that it's kidney failure that will get you - uranium is particularly toxic to the kidneys, much more so than any other organ.

[Kettch]

I've heard a lot of claims that birth defects in Iraq have increased significantly, but I'm skeptical since I have no reason to believe that the increase in birth defects (If it is real) is correlated in any way to the use of DU.

Yeah those claims are totally without any proof or backing. People show photos of these supposed DU caused defects all the time, yet how do you know a photo of a birth defect was caused by DU? That’s just not possible.
Plus the Iraqi standard of living and health and sanitation system was also hard hit by the Gulf War, providing a whole range of other reasons why birth defects and infant mortality would have risen.

Also, while people love to attack the US and UK for using DU in combat, the reality is that about 20 nations have weapons employing depleted uranium ammunition. How many of them have used it in combat isn't known.

So far this has supposedly been traced to two major battle fields, Iraq & Serbia / Kosovo (From GAU-8 rounds). I remember one article pointing out that kids were playing where DU rounds had hit the ground, considered the possibilities of leukemia in the kids & then pointed out the factory near by dumping toxic sluge in the water & the coal factory pumping unfiltered exhaust from the Chimney.

So the questions to ask are:

1) What are the pre-war illness levels (& are the number reliable?)
2) How much is effect of war time bodily stress?
3) What are the effects of infrastructure damage?
4) Has there been carcinogen poisoning due to spills, burning fuel stores, water contamination, etc.
5) How much in addition to the above are attributable to DU?

The question is complex & is not simply Prewar X cases - Postwar Y cases = number of DU caused deaths. Unfortunately some activists take this simplistic approach. A more concrete start would to check for ground water contamination. I have not yet found information on how quickly uranium leaches to ground water.

Here is a good FAQ. about A10 attack sites in the Balklans. Notable that these were Swedes & the university of Bristol & the contamination effects of the time were small.

[Kettch]

Goundwater information from the IAEA:

In the long term, the exposure pathways that become more important are ingestion of DU incorporated in drinking water and the food chain through migration from the soil or direct deposition on vegetation. The risk from ingestion of food and water is generally low, because uranium is not effectively transported in the food chain.

[CJvR]

Once people hear URANIUM they seem to disconnect their brains. Particulary amusing are morons who claim DU is a radiologic weapon.

[Elfdart]

The people bent out of shape over depleted uranium miss the much bigger hazard in Iraq and other war zones: all the landmines as well as unexploded bombs and shells.

[Gil Hamilton]

Actually, depleted uranium is not only not terribly radioactive, but it makes a really excellent radiation shield because it's so dense.