Gulf War and Health Updated Literature Review of Depleted Uranium (2008) / Chapter Skim
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2 Background
2 Background
Pages 13-22
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From page 13... ...
All three naturally occurring uranium isotopes are radioactive. The most abundant is 238U (99.2745% abundance)
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From page 14... ...
. Exposure of Military Personnel to Depleted Uranium The Gulf War marked the first time that depleted-uranium munitions and armor were extensively used by the US military (DOD, 2000)
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From page 15... ...
In July 1991, a large fire occurred in Camp Doha near Kuwait City. This site housed a number of combat-ready vehicles, and the series of blasts and fires damaged or destroyed vehicles and munitions, including Abrams tanks and depleted-uranium munitions.
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From page 16... ...
Depending on the exposure scenario, the median intakes of depleted uranium range from 10 mg for a 1-min exposure in a ventilated Abrams tank with depleted-uranium armor to 710 mg for a 5-min exposure in an unventilated Abrams tank with depleted-uranium armor. The Capstone report is reviewed in detail in the National Research Council report Review of Toxicologic and Radiologic Risks to Military Personnel from Exposure to Depleted Uranium During and After Combat (NRC, 2008)
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From page 17... ...
As noted above, uranium isotopes decay to other radioactive elements that eventually decay to stable isotopes of lead. In the decay process, beta particles and gamma rays are
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From page 18... ...
. The most abundant naturally occurring uranium isotope, 238U, has the lowest specific activity (1.24 × 104 Bq/g)
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From page 19... ...
In relating dose of ionizing radiation to risk, an extension of the dose equivalent is used to express dose as what would have been received if the whole body had been uniformly irradiated. The "effective dose equivalent" is the sum of dose equivalents to different organs or body tissues weighted in such a fashion as to provide a value proportional to radiation-induced somatic and genetic risk even when the body is not uniformly irradiated.
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From page 20... ...
Although considerable controversy remains about the shape of the dose-response curve, especially at low doses, a linear no-threshold model has traditionally been used. This approach has been used for ionizing radiation as a carcinogen; for example, the National Research Council report Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation: BEIR VII Phase 2 endorses the use of such a model for radiogenic-cancer risk estimation (NRC, 2006)
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From page 21... ...
of direct scientific evidence relevant to Gulf War veterans that could support the adoption of a no-threshold model for depleted-uranium cancer risk. The validity of the linear no-threshold model, especially for radiogenic cancer, is of greatest uncertainty at doses below 25 rem, the very range of doses to Gulf War veterans considered here.
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From page 22... ...
Assessments. Fort Belvoir, VA: US Army Heavy Metals Office, Chemical and Biological Defense Information Analysis Center.
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