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http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2002/2002-10-15-02.asp Environmental News Service October 16, 2002 UN Assesses Depleted Uranium in Bosnia-Herzegovina -"Previous studies of DU in Kosovo and Serbia recommended that governments and civilians take precautionary action to avoid contact with DU." -At the request of the local authorities, the medical sub-team, led by an expert from the World Health Organization (WHO), will examine data on cancer rates in the main urban centres of Sarajevo and Banja Luka. They will also visit a local hospital in Bratunac to meet with the local medics and with patients who may have been exposed to DU during the conflict. -DU has both chemical and radiological toxicity that affects the kidneys and the lungs. -"We learned," UNEP reports, "that still, more than two years after the end of the conflict, particles of DU dust can be detected from soil samples and from sensitive bio-indicators like lichen." -Young children playing in or near DU impact sites could ingest the radioactive substance lingering in contaminated soil when putting their fingers in their mouths, WHO warns. -"One of the most significant findings," of the Balkans research, UNEP says, is that "future risks to groundwater maybe posed by the gradual corrosion of DU penetrators." SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina, October 15, 2002 (ENS) - At the request of the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a team of experts from the United Nations Environment Programme is investigating 12 sites in the country that may have been targeted by ordnance containing depleted uranium (DU) during the Bosnian conflict in 1994 and 1995. The 17 member team UNEP Depleted Uranium Assessment Team began its research October 12 and will be in the field until October 24. Their conclusions will be presented in a report to be published in March 2003. The assessment mission is headed by Pekka Haavisto, the former Finnish environment minister who has led war damage assessment teams in the Balkans, and most recently in the Palestinian Territories. "UNEP's aim is to determine whether the use of depleted uranium during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina may pose health or environmental risks - either now or in the future," said Haavisto. "Previous studies of DU in Kosovo and Serbia recommended that governments and civilians take precautionary action to avoid contact with DU," he said. The team will take soil, water, air and vegetation samples at six sites that have been identified by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as having been struck by DU weapons. They will examine six other sites that local residents believe may have also been targeted. At the request of the local authorities, the medical sub-team, led by an expert from the World Health Organization (WHO), will examine data on cancer rates in the main urban centres of Sarajevo and Banja Luka. They will also visit a local hospital in Bratunac to meet with the local medics and with patients who may have been exposed to DU during the conflict. The mission is being funded by the governments of Italy and Switzerland. The assessment team includes experts from UNEP, the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority, Spiez Laboratory of Switzerland, Italy's National Environmental Protection Agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Greek Atomic Energy Commission, the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine, the Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the University of Bristol, UK. The samples being collected will be analyzed in detail for radioactivity and toxicity in the Spiez Laboratory, in Italy's National Environmental Protection Agency lab, and at Bristol University. The uranium remaining after removal of the enriched fraction contains about 99.8 percent 238U, 0.25 percent of 235U and 0.001 percent 234U by mass. This material is referred to as depleted uranium or DU. Due to its high density, about twice that of lead, and other properties, DU is used in munitions designed to penetrate armor plate and for protection of military vehicles such as tanks. DU is described by the World Health Organization (WHO) in an April 2001 Fact Sheet as "weakly radioactive." A radiation dose from it would be about 60 percent of that from purified natural uranium with the same mass. DU has both chemical and radiological toxicity that affects the kidneys and the lungs. UNEP's Balkans Task Force report giving field measurements taken around selected impact sites in Kosovo indicates that contamination by DU in the environment was localized to a few tens of meters around impact sites. "We learned," UNEP reports, "that still, more than two years after the end of the conflict, particles of DU dust can be detected from soil samples and from sensitive bio-indicators like lichen." The "extremely low" levels were only detectable through lab analysis, but UNEP confirmed that "contamination at the targeted sites is widespread, though no significant level of radioactivity can be measured." But the task force found that levels of DU may be significantly raised over background levels in close proximity to DU contaminating events. Over the days and years following such an event, WHO warns, the contamination will become dispersed into the wider natural environment. "People living or working in affected areas can inhale dusts and can consume contaminated food and drinking water." "Levels of contamination in food and drinking water could rise in affected areas after some years and should be monitored where it is considered that there is a reasonable possibility of significant quantities of DU entering the ground water or food chain," the agency says. Young children playing in or near DU impact sites could ingest the radioactive substance lingering in contaminated soil when putting their fingers in their mouths, WHO warns. There is a possibility of lung tissue damage leading to a risk of lung cancer if a high enough radiation dose results from insoluble DU compounds remaining in the lungs for many years, says WHO. "No reproductive or developmental effects have been reported in humans, but studies are limited." The UNEP Balkans assessment team used modern air sampling techniques and detected airborne DU particles at two sites, indicating for the first time, that the radioactive substance could remain in the air for months, and possibly for years. "One of the most significant findings," of the Balkans research, UNEP says, is that "future risks to groundwater maybe posed by the gradual corrosion of DU penetrators." The magnitude of this risk is unknown, and UNEP recommended continued monitoring. In April 2001, WHO published a monograph entitled "Depleted Uranium: Sources, Exposures and Health Effects" which reviews the best available scientific literature on uranium and depleted uranium. UNEP's post-conflict depleted uranium reports are online at: http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications.htm#du __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
