Depleted uranium—the growing concern

Abstract

Recently, several studies have reported on the health and environmental consequences of the use of depleted uranium. Depleted uranium is a heavy metal that is also radioactive. It is commonly used in missiles as a counterweight because of its very high density (1.6 times more than lead). Immediate health risks associated with exposure to depleted uranium include kidney and respiratory problems, with conditions such as kidney stones, chronic cough and severe dermatitis. Long-term risks include lung and bone cancer. Several published reports implicated exposure to depleted uranium in kidney damage, mutagenicity, cancer, inhibition of bone, neurological deficits, significant decrease in the pregnancy rate in mice and adverse effects on the reproductive and central nervous systems. Acute poisoning with depleted uranium elicited renal failure that could lead to death. The environmental consequences of its residue will be felt for thousands of years. It is inhaled and passed through the skin and eyes, transferred through the placenta into the fetus, distributed into tissues and eliminated in urine. The use of depleted uranium during the Gulf and Kosovo Wars and the crash of a Boeing airplane carrying depleted uranium in Amsterdam in 1992 were implicated in a health concern related to exposure to depleted uranium.

Characterization and remediation of soils contaminated with uranium

“…Even if allowed to enter the body, depleted uranium, like natural uranium, has the potential for both chemical and radiological toxicity, with the two important target organs being the kidneys and the lungs [35,42,64]. Some published data refer to the toxic effects of depleted uranium on reproduction and development, as well as on risk of leukemia and central nervous system [65][66][67][68][69]. The relative contribution of each pathway to the total uptake into the body depends on the physical and chemical nature of the uranium, as well as the level and duration of exposure [32,53,70,71].…”

Metals in human placenta: focus on the effects of cadmium on steroid hormones and leptin

“…These metallic elements and compounds, many of which also function as metalloestrogens, include arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and uranium (Abu-Qare and Abou-Donia, 2002;Choe et al, 2003;Chedrese et al, 2006;Takiguchi and Yoshihara, 2006;Dyer, 2007;Davey et al, 2008;Henson et al, 2010). They can be classi ed as endocrine disruptors because they have the potential to mimic or block endogenous steroid hormones in a number of wildlife species, as well as in many mammals, including humans, by interacting with hormone receptors (McLachlan, 2001;Guillette, 2006).…”

Exposure of pregnant rats to uranium and restraint stress: Effects on postnatal development and behavior of the offspring

“…DU is a low-level radioactive waste product of the enrichment of natural uranium with U-235 for reactor fuels or nuclear weapons (Bleise et al, 2003). Although the radiological hazard of DU is less than that from natural or enriched uranium, the chemical toxicity associated with DU exposure is potentially similar to that of uranium (Abu-Qare and Abou-Donia, 2002;Craft et al, 2004;Souidi et al, 2005).…”