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DOD STUDIES MEDICAL IMPACT OF DEPLETED URANIUM IN THE BALKANS
The Department of Defense released today an information paper,
"Depleted Uranium Environmental and Medical Surveillance in the
Balkans," which summarizes medical and environmental assessments
performed in the Balkans area by a number of countries. On the
whole, these assessments have not found any connections between
depleted uranium exposure in the Balkans and negative health
effects. Most of the work assessed was done independently, by
organizations outside the Defense Department. The information
paper examines assessments performed by the United Kingdom Royal
Society, the World Health Organization, the United Nations
Environmental Programme and others.
Investigators supporting the special assistant for Gulf War
illnesses, medical readiness and military deployments compiled
and analzyed those reports and referenced them in the new
information paper. Most of the cited references are available
in public libraries or on the Internet.
The special assistant's support staff is the same organization
that previously investigated depleted uranium use in the Gulf
War. Both tanks and aircraft employed depleted uranium
ammunition in the Gulf War. However, all the depleted uranium
used in the Balkans was in the form of 30-millimeter rounds
fired from Air Force A-10 aircraft. About 10,000 rounds were
fired in Bosnia and approximately 31,000 rounds were fired in
Kosovo. That adds up to nearly 13 tons of depleted uranium,
much less than the 320 tons of depleted uranium used during the
Gulf War.
Concerns about possible health effects of depleted uranium in
Europe were first raised by newspaper reports. Italian media
reports initially tried to link an apparent rise in the
incidence of leukemia in Balkan veterans to exposure to depleted
uranium. After an extensive scientific study, the Italian
government concluded that the incidence of leukemia was not as
high in Balkan veterans as it was in the general population.
Many other countries started medical screening programs for
their Bosnia veterans. So far, none has reported elevated
uranium levels in their soldiers' urine, or any negative health
consequences they attribute to depleted uranium exposure.
Because depleted uranium is a heavy metal, it can be potentially
harmful under certain circumstances. For that reason, the NATO
nations have instituted training in the safety precautions to
use in an area where depleted uranium was used militarily. Much
of this training is based on the training programs created by
the U.S. ARMY.
Information papers are reports of what the Defense Department
knows today about military procedures and equipment. This
information paper is intended to provide a basic understanding
of depleted uranium use in the Balkans. Although not an
investigative report, the report will be updated if additional
information becomes available.
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