Depleted uranium exposure

Briner, W., Murray, J. (2005). Effects of short-term and long-term depleted uranium exposure on open-field behavior and brain lipid oxidation in rats. Neurotoxicol. Teratol. 27 135 4. 

Squibb, K.S., McDiarmid, M.A. (2006). Depleted uranium exposure and health effects in Gulf War veterans. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lend. B Biol. Set 361 639-48. 

Keogh J Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Baltimore, MD Assessment of depleted uranium exposure during the Persian gulf war. Department of Veterans Affairs Research and Development... 

Bakhmutsky, M.V., Oliver, M.S., McDiarmid, M.A., et al., 2011. Long term depleted uranium exposure in Gulf War I veterans does not cause elevated numbers of micronuclei in peripheral blood lymphocytes. Mutat. Res. 720, 53-57. 

Dorsey, C.D., Engelhardt, S.M., Squibb, K.S., et al., 2009. Biological monitoring for depleted uranium exposure in US Veterans. Environ. Health Perspect. 

Betti reported on the civil use of depleted uranium and various relevant scenarios (e.g., the case of an aircraft accident which occurred in Amsterdam in 1992 involving a fire) in terms of radiological exposure to bystanders.62... 

An example of a common situation that leads to greater radiation exposure levels than would be expected occurs with some uranium compounds. Depleted uranium is an a-emitting isotope with an extremely long half-hfe, 4 billion years. As a result of this long half-life, is generally not considered to present a significant radiation hazard. However, uranium fluorides, a typical synthetic starting material, can... 

This chapter describes depleted uranium and its applications in weapons of mass destruction. The DU exposure pathways, pharmacokinetics, health effects, toxicity, and available treatments are also reported. 

Depleted uranium is an excellent metallic substrate for radiation shielding and for armor and ammunition by the military due to its density and pyrophoric properties. Furthermore, the unique ability of uranium-based ammunitions to sharpen themselves upon impact, allowing for deeper penetration of the ammunitions, also makes DU a better substrate for weapons of mass destruction. As such, it is not suprising that the use of DU in military applications is expected to grow. This increased use will no doubt be bolstered by recent scientific studies showing that DU exposure has relatively low adverse health effects, contrary... 

Miller, A.C., Brooks, K., Stewart, M., Anderson, B., Shi, L., McClain, D., Page, N. (2003). Genomic instability in human osteoblast cells after exposure to depleted uranium delayed lethality and micronuclei formation. J. Environ. Radioact. 64 ... 

Committee on Health Effects Associated with Exposures during the Gulf War, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (2000). Gulf War and Health Vol. 1. Depleted Uranium, Pyridostigmine Bromide, Sarin, and Vaccines (C.E. Fulco,... 

Hepatic and developmental effects have also been noted in some animal studies. This profile is primarily concerned with the effects of exposure to natural and depleted uranium, but does include limited discussion regarding enriched uranium, which is considered to be more of a radiological than a chemical hazard. Also, whenever the term radiation is used, it appUes to ionizing radiation and not to nonionizing radiation. 

No studies were located which reported effects of uranium on development in humans or animals following inhalation exposures for any duration. The Department of Defense has preliminarily evaluated developmental effects among service members who were actually or potentially exposed to depleted uranium. 

UNSCEAR has considered that limits for natural (and depleted) uranium in food and drinking water (the most important sources of human exposure) should be based on the chemical toxicity rather than on a hypothetical radiological toxicity, which has not been observed in either humans or animals (UNSCEAR 1993 Wrenn et al. 1985). 

Table 2-8 shows the mass equivalents for natural and depleted uranium for radiation levels that caused potential radiological effects in rats exposed once for 100 minutes to airborne 92.8% enriched uranium with an estimated specific activity of 51.6 pCi/g (Morris et al. 1989). These mass equivalent values for natural and depleted uranium for the minimal concentration of radioactivity that is expected to induce potential radiological effects are well above levels that would be expected to be inhaled or ingested. In addition, the mass equivalents for natural and depleted uranium for potential radiological effects are 3,600 and 76,500 times higher, respectively, than the occupational exposure limits (short-term exposure) recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH 1997). Therefore, MRLs for uranium based on studies that used enriched uranium are inappropriate. 

Although natural uranium has a low specific-activity of 0.67 pCi/g (25,000 Bq/g) and depleted uranium has even less (0.36 pCi/g) (10 CFR 20 Wrenn et al. 1987), it is reasonable to believe that uranium, such as highly enriched uranium with its high specific activity, may present a radiological hazard, especially in cases of human exposure (Kirk 1980 USNRC 1989). Three accidental exposure reports and health data from several years of follow-up studies are available (Kathren and Moore 1986 USNRC 1986 Zhao and... 

World Health Organization (WHO) (2001) Depleted Uranium Sources, Exposure and Health Effects. Geneva Department of the Protection of the Human Environment, World Health Organization. 

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