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Biotech

Journal js7a's Journal: Depleted Uranium and Birth Defects 9

Journal by js7a

Folks, I'm going to continue linking to icky pictures. Those who wish to ban abortions have been conspiciously displaying photos of aborted fetuses since the 1970s. I think it's time that we show them the kind of birth defects their advocacy of military solutions to political problems has wrought. There aren't any such photos in this JE, but I'm just putting everyone on notice that, without further warning, I shall be linking to photos of congenital deformations caused by uranium nitrate poisoning.

In 1999, the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) commissioned an independent survey of the reproductive health of every U.K. veteran that served in the Gulf and their partners. The results were reported in the International Journal of Epidemiology available in full-text here. Some excerpts: "The risk of reported miscarriage was higher among pregnancies fathered by Gulf war veterans than by non-Gulf war veterans (OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.3, 1.5).... Male Gulf war veterans reported a higher proportion of offspring with any type of malformation than the comparison cohort (OR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.3, 1.7). Examination by type of malformation revealed some evidence for increased risk of malformations of the genital system, urinary system (renal and urinary tract), and 'other' defects of the digestive system, musculo-skeletal system, and non-chromosomal (non-syndrome) anomalies.... The finding of a possible relationship with renal anomalies requires further investigation."

That further investigation is taking place now. Please see the U.K's Depleted Uranium Oversight Board's website. They have decided to test all of their Gulf War and Balkans conflict veterans, and they go into some detail (in their meeting minutes) about the reasons they have chosen to take this course of action. This newspaper article describes the situation in detail. Their first tests took place starting March of this year, but they are now sending letters urging all eligible veterans to be tested.

There are some DoD documents which clearly show the truth of the matter. This PDF for example; excerpts: "Urine samples containing uranium are mutagenic as determined by the Ames test.... uranium would be solubilized and redistribute to various tissues as early as one day after implantation.... As expected, the highest uranium concentrations were in kidneys and bone. Other tissues also showed significantly higher levels.... Because of these findings, there are proposed changes in the DU shrapnel removal policy. For example, it is now advised that DU fragments greater than 1 cm be removed.... DU can be deposited in bone causing DNA damage by the effects of the alpha particles.... For inhalation exposure, a more rapidly dissolution of uranium was observed in the airborne material than in the settled material (RC Scripsick et al, Govt Reports Announcements & Index, Issue 02, 1985.)"

The new U.K. MoD DU battlefield instructions are full of good advice; excerpts: "traces of DU have been found in the gun barrels and fume extractor after firing.... The toxic hazard is presented by inhalation or ingestion of DU dust, or by contamination of open wounds by DU dust.... Personnel should not climb onto or into vehicles or structures possibly hit by DU rounds unless required to do so. Personnel should avoid the surrounding area by at least 50 meters and attempt to stay upwind of fires involving DU.... When it is necessary to enter DU contaminated areas, exposed skin is to be covered and especially any exposed wounds. If practicable, NBC rubber gloves or leather gloves and a dust mask should be worn. If no mask is readily available, a handkerchief, shemaugh or sweat rag (wet better than dry) should be used to cover nose and mouth.... Potentially contaminated areas should be checked and, if contamination is found, clearly marked with a 50 meter cordon, and left. Personnel are to be warned of the hazard...."

The U.K. MoD is now issuing a card to all of their troops in Iraq which specifically indicates that depleted uranium munitions can cause ill health -- contradicting earlier assertions that they could not (many of which are still part of official MoD publications.) The U.K. Pension Appeal Tribunal Service has this year begun directly attributing Gulf War Illness victims to the use of depleted uranium, based on a blood test developed by German biochemist Dr. Albrecht Schott.

Television station KHOU, Channel 11 in Houston, has reported in March of this year: "An internal Veterans Administration study shows children of Gulf War vets have twice the normal rate of birth defects. A Department of Defense-funded study shows children of male Gulf War vets have three times the average rate of heart defects. And a study just released this month shows women who served in the first Gulf War suffered three times the normal rate of miscarriages in the period just after the conflict."

The teratogenic effects of DU pyrolite inhalation are due to toxicity -- moreso than just radiation -- and apparently take more than five years before their peak manifestation.

Concerning radiation-caused birth defects, here is some more carefully researched information involving radiation exclusively:

Studies by Lowell E. Sever, an epidemiologist with Battelle's Seattle Research Center, and others reported an association between neural tube defects and the radiation dose fathers received before their children were conceived. This effect was observed in children whose fathers received low doses (10 rem or less) of external whole-body radiation while working at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State.

In 1990, Martin J. Gardner (Environmental Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton, England) and colleagues published the results of a study of leukemia and lymphoma among young people born and living near the Sellafield nuclear power plant in West Cumbria, United Kingdom. The researchers concluded that leukemia in children was linked to their fathers' exposure to external whole-body radiation before conception of the child. For children whose fathers worked at the nuclear facility, the rate of childhood leukemia was twice as high as normal. There was also an eight-fold increase of leukemia in children whose fathers received a life-time dose greater than 10 rem or a dose greater than 1 rem within the six months before the children's conception. A study by P.A. McKinney (Information and Statistics Division, Scottish Common Services, Edinburgh, Scotland) indicated a 2.5-fold increase in leukemia in children whose fathers had radiation doses similar to those in the Gardner study.

There is no evidence that common battlefield conditions do not often result in inhalation (not ingestion) of a dangerous amount of uranyl nitrates.

There is no evidence contrary to the fact that Gulf War Illness has symptoms identical to those of uranium pyrolite inhalation. The extent to which the DoD has tried to supress this is very impressive, indeed.

There is no dispute regarding the observation of significant increases in cancer and birth defects unique to the areas of Iraq and Afghanistan where DU weaponry has been used.

The Health Physics Society makes a correct assertion that, "The main route of potentially hazardous exposure [for uranium-based aerosols] is inhalation since gastrointestinal uptake is relatively small. After inhalation, uranium will be slowly mobilized and enter the systemic circulation. The uranyl ion is the form of mobile uranium within the body. It deposits at bone surfaces and remains in the bone matrix with a half-time of up to one year."

However, the Health Physics Society falsely claims that the only organs harmed by uranium toxicity are the kidneys, and in fact the clinical manifestations of uranium poisoning include kidney and liver damage, anemia, a depressed cellular immune system, and congenital malformation. Moreover, the Materials Safety Data Sheets for lead compounds use the phrase, "avoid breathing vapor or dust," and that the corresponding phrase for uranyl nitrate is, "very toxic if inhaled," contrary to Dr. Kathren's false assertion (as endorsed by the Health Physics Society) that, "from a chemical toxicity standpoint, uranium is on the same order of toxicity as lead."

In particular, uranyl ions can pass the placenta causing congenital malformation.

"[I]nternal contamination with depleted uranium isotopes was detected in British, Canadian, and United States Gulf War veterans as late as nine years after inhalational exposure to radioactive dust in the Persian Gulf War I. DU isotopes were also identified in a Canadian veteran's autopsy samples of lung, liver, kidney, and bone," as reported by Asaf Durakovic, M.D., in the Croatian Medical Journal (vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 520-32, 2003.) It continues: "After the Afghanistan Operation Anaconda (2002), our team studied the population of Jalalabad, Spin Gar, Tora Bora, and Kabul areas, and identified civilians with the symptoms similar to those of Gulf War syndrome.... results from the Jalalabad province revealed urinary excretion of total uranium in all subjects significantly exceeding the values in the nonexposed population.... Studies of specimens collected in 2002 revealed uranium concentrations up to 200 times higher in the districts of Tora Bora, Yaka Toot, Lal Mal, Makam Khan Farm, Arda Farm, Bibi Mahro, Poli Cherki, and the Kabul airport than in the control population."

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  • Those who wish to ban abortions have been conspiciously displaying photos of aborted fetuses since the 1970s. I think it's time that we show them the kind of birth defects their advocacy of military solutions to political problems has wrought.


    How nice of you to equate everyone together like that.
    • You must mean that I'm having trouble finding the "show this picture only to people who have used pictures of aborted fetuses for political ends in the past" checkbox, which is true.

      Someone should found "Operation Rescue My Tax Dollars From Paying For Birth Defects And Retardation Of Children Of -- Not To Mention For Treating The Poisoning Of -- Anyone Anywhere In The Vague Proximity Of Fighting U.S. And U.K. Troops."

      • You can't equate all pro-lifers with all those who "[advocate] military solutions to political problems." You're saying it's the same group that is supportive of the use of depleted uranium in ammunition, as well.

        There's certainly overlap, but you're painting with an overly wide brush. The worst part is, you're smart enough to know that.

        • Well, thanks. I do sometimes think of the Republican Party as a mostly coherent organization with top-down goals, regular talking points, member discipline, etc. And occasionally, when the subject comes up, Republican Congressmen (always men, as far as I've seen) put pictures of aborted fetuses up on easels in front of the C-SPAN cameras. And, I think it's fair to say that the Republicans have been more closely associated with the occupation of Iraq. So, please forgive my conflation.

          Do you know anyone

          • See, now you even seem to be saying that they're all Republicans. Again, these are multiple issues, and thinking one way about one issue doesn't automatically mean thinking a certain way about the rest.

            To answer your question, yes, I know people like that.

            • Well, I'm glad they exist. I have never met an anti-abortion activist (simply to the point of my being aware of their views on the subject) who was also anti-death penalty. I know that the Catholic church is led by one, and is supposed to be full of them, but again, I've never met one. Maybe California isn't diverse enough for me to have a truly open mind about these things.

              • Well, I'm glad they exist. I have never met an anti-abortion activist (simply to the point of my being aware of their views on the subject) who was also anti-death penalty.

                Every time I talk about issues being separate, you go and try to change the parameters of your argument by adding more issues. It won't work.

                To answer your latest attempt: Anti-death-penalty and pro-life are separate but by no means mutually exclusive, especially for those who feel that all human life is sacred.

                You're welcome to hav

                • My point is that I personally have never met anyone who is both "pro-life" and against the death penalty. Presumably the number of people against the death penalty is larger than the number of people who have taken a stand against depleted uranium weaponry, only because everyone knows about the death penalty and few people read up very closely on DU.

                  Since I've had to look at pictures of aborted fetuses because of the politics of the same major political party which introduced and is still using DU weapon

  • Seems that every few decades, we get another situation where the MoD/DoD insists that "X" is safe, then years later we find out it wasn't...and they knew it.

    I say that we shut those responsible for the lies in a room filed with DU dust for a fortnight, then ship 'em out to live on the Bikini Atol for a few months.

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