WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- A new study finds the health risks from inhaling airborne particles of depleted uranium are very low.
The Capstone study found that even servicemembers in armored vehicles hit by DU munitions would still not suffer health risks from inhaling the particles. Of course, officials said, they would certainly have other problems if their tank or armored personnel carrier was hit.
The U.S. military uses DU as armor and in munitions. The five-year, $6 million study, analyzed for the Department of Defense by Batelle Memorial Institute, found that even in extreme cases, exposure to "aerosolized" DU did not pose a health risk.
The study looked at the health risks faced by servicemembers who had been in an armored vehicle that was breached by a DU round. It also looked at the exposures mechanics or other maintainers would get from working in such a vehicle. The study showed that the highest-exposed individuals are those who are in, on or near vehicles when they were struck, said Army Lt. Col. Mark Melanson.
"What we found is the radiation doses for people in that situation are below peacetime safety standards," he said. "We also found that the chemical risks of breathing in uranium dust are so low that it won't cause any long-term health risks."
Colonel Melanson, who holds a doctorate in radiation health sciences, is the program manager of the health physics program at the Army's Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
DOD officials have been assessing the safety of DU for more than 30 years. The radiation risk from the rounds and armor also is negligible; Colonel Melanson said uranium is a common element. DU has most of the U-235 isotope -- the type used to make atomic bombs -- taken out of it, leaving the more stable U-238.
But uranium is a heavy metal, and, like lead or mercury, can pose problems if enough is ingested.
Specialists at Aberdeen fired DU rounds at the turrets of M-1 tanks and at Bradley fighting vehicles. They measured the concentration of DU inside the turrets and passenger compartments and compared those rates with allowable peacetime standards. The levels were below the standards set for peacetime civilian workers.
"If it's safe for workers in the States to receive these exposures during peacetime, it's definitely safe for our troops to receive them in combat when there are other more dangerous risks out there on the battlefield," Colonel Melanson said.
Since 1993, Department of Veterans Affairs officials have been assessing the health of American soldiers wounded by DU rounds in 1991's Operation Desert Storm. These people have particles of DU remaining inside them.
"There are no health affects attributable to DU," Colonel Melanson said. "There are health problems from their wounding, but nothing from depleted uranium."