Depleted uranium causes cancer

09/04/2014

Iraq has spoken out in favor of a ban on uranium weapons this autumn in the run-up to the UN General Assembly. The evidence of long-term and serious health damage from the use of uranium ammunition is becoming increasingly overwhelming. According to a recent analysis by the International Coalition for the Prevention of Uranium Weapons (ICBUW), depleted uranium (DU) damages DNA in two ways: as a heavy metal, it is chemotoxic and, as an alpha emitter, radiotoxic. For the report, over 50 qualified studies were evaluated.

All radioactive substances that emit alpha radiation have already been identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer „Group 1 carcinogens“ (First-order cancer causative agent), as long as they enter the human body. In the studies analyzed, it has also been shown that DU can damage DNA and cell processes in different ways. By oxidative stress, DNA strands breakage, and direct chemical binding to the DNA. In other studies, the scientists documented that DU can cause DNA mutations and changes in chromosomal structure, alter cells to cancer cells and destabilize the genome.

Iraq is the country most heavily contaminated by uranium weapons. The US and Britain shot at least 400,000 kilograms of uranium munitions during the 1991 and 2003 wars. The civilian population was not informed about the risks of the operation. Field studies on the effects of uranium munitions in Iraq have been severely hampered by the US refusal to provide location and quantity information on lost ammunition. The Peace Organization Pax has received a few US coordinates from the Dutch Ministry of Defense under the Freedom of Information Act. These indicate that the US Army also deployed DU in residential areas in 2003.

The ICBUW has long demanded a ban on uranium weapons as it did with anti-personnel landmines and cluster bombs. Uranium weapons make no difference between combatants and civilians. If the conflict is long over, the life-threatening effect persists in the long run and endangers future generations. (Pm)