Study: Depleted uranium could damage

DNA| DOD officials say exposure not a health risk to troops|| By Leo Shane
III, Stars and Stripes| Mideast edition, Saturday, April 15, 2006||
WASHINGTON ? Depleted uranium, used to harden vehicles and armor-|
piercing munitions, might cause damage to DNA in ways previously not|
understood by health officials, according to a recently released study|
from Northern Arizona University.|| The research could again raise
questions about the military’s use of| depleted uranium, a practice
Defense Department officials insist does| not present health risks to
troops. The dense metal is a by-product of| the nuclear fuel enrichment
process.|| Theories connecting Gulf War Syndrome to radiation exposure
from| uranium-laced battlefi
elds have persisted for years. Defense Department| studies show no
lingering exposure danger, officials said.|| A 2004 study by the Defense
Department concluded that the health risks| from inhaling airborne
particles of depleted uranium are “very low”| in combat situations.|| But
the new study, conducted by biochemist Diane Stearns shows that,| separate
from any radiation risks, cells exposed to uranium can bond| with the
heavy metal particles. That biochemical reaction can cause| genetic
mutations, which in turn can curtail cell growth and| potentially cause
cancer.|| Stearns said the research is too preliminary to prove that
uranium-| treated ammunition can cause harmful side effects.|| “But it
does raise the question of whether we’re testing for the| right things
when we look at the health effects,” she said. “If we’| re not seeing
radioactivity in people being tested, maybe that’s not| what we should be
looking for.
”|| If bullets coated with DU are used on a battlefield, their impact on
a| target could potentially send miniature metal fragments into the air.|
Stearns said her work shows the long-term effects on what those| particles
could do to the human cellular system have not been fully| researched.|| A
statement from the Defense Department on Friday said the department| has
investigated the toxic properties of uranium as a heavy metal, and| that
no evidence exists to show that that Gulf War veterans have| suffered any
chromosomal or genetic damage from DU exposure.|| “(Stearns’) studies add
another piece to the puzzle, but there is| already a lot of information in
this area,” the statement said.|| Past studies reviewed by the Pentagon
have shown that uranium at high| levels can cause kidney damage in animal
experiments, but have not| shown a link between the lower levels of
exposure from DU munitions and| veterans’ health.|| A Baltimore Veterans A
ffairs Medical Center research team has been| tracking 80 soldiers from
the first Gulf War whose vehicles were| peppered with DU rounds during
combat, all of whom had some inhalation| exposure to the heavy metal.||
Officials said that, to date, none of them has developed kidney| problems
or uranium-related cancers. In addition, the group has| fathered 68
children, none of whom has birth defects.|| Still, Rep. Jim McDermott,
D-Wash., has been petitioning for more| extensive testing on DU for more
than a year, and recently called on| Congress to renew discussions on the
issue at a rally featuring| Physicians for Social Responsibility and the
punk-rock group Anti-Flag.|| “All I’m really asking for is an independent
study,” he said in an| interview earlier this month. “It’s clear this
issue about the health| effects is out there and floating around. But it’s
also clear the| Pentagon does not want to study it.”|| Last summer, McDer
mott introduced legislation which would mandate a| series of research
projects on the material’s effects on troops,| civilians and the
environment. The bill hasn’t moved since then.|| A Defense Department
spokeswoman said a number of independent groups ?| including the United
Nations, researchers from the New England Journal| of Medicine, and the
Rand Corporation ? have all published studies in| recent years supporting
the Pentagon’s conclusion that depleted| uranium munitions are not a
health risk for U.S. troops.|| Misinformation about the supposed dangers
continues to be a problem,| the spokesman said, despite the department’s
own extensive testing of| troops.|| Since May 2003, 2,122 troops who
served in Iraq and Afghanistan and who| may have been exposed to DU have
undergone radiation screenings. Only| eight showed elevated levels, all of
whom were still within prescribed| health standards, and all of them had
munitions fragments in their body
| at the time.|| Defense officials said they have no plans to phasing out
the use of DU| munitions or a ban on its use.||

 

New research on uranium's effect on DNA||

UPI FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - April 10, 2006|| A Northern Arizona University
biochemist and her students report that| uranium can damage DNA as a heavy
metal independent of its radioactive| properties.|| Their research has
enormous implications for the study of depleted| uranium as a component in
military munitions.|| Phys.org news agency reported on April 7 that
Stearns and her students| are the first researchers to discover that when
cells are exposed to| uranium, the uranium binds to DNA and the cells can
mutate, the uranium| altering the cell's DNA code. The end result can be
that the affected| DNA can produce a different protein or wrong amounts of
protein,| affecting cell growth, some of which can metastasize into cancer
cells.|| While scientists h
ave long known that uranium can damage DNA as a| radioactive metal,
Stearns and her collaborators discovered that uranium| could also damage
DNA as a heavy metal, independent of its radioactive| properties.|| Sterns
said, "Essentially, if you get a heavy metal stuck on DNA, you| can get a
mutation."|| While scientists have discovered that other heavy metals are
known to| bind to DNA, Stearns and her collaborators are the first to link
this| trait to uranium.|| The results of the team's research were
published recently in| Mutagenesis and Molecular Carcinogenesis journals.|