Yes and no. A piece of depleted uranium is not particularly radioactive because the particles it emits are relatively big and will mostly bounce off your skin. When it is fired, it forms tiny particles that you can breathe into your body. These particles continually give off radioactivity inside your lungs, where they do great harm.
On Mon, Jul 14, 2003 at 09:27:43AM -0700, Devine, James wrote: > isn't it true that DU ammunition isn't very radioactive? it seems to me that the > problem with DU ammo is the same problem as with lead, mercury, or other heavy > metals (and I don't mean AC-DC): heavy metals, radioactive or not, make you sick. > > ------------------------ > Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine > -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
