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Re: [casi] Talk on depleted uranium in Iraq in Manchester



Dear Emir, dear list,
Damacio Lopez, who was one month in Belgium in may/june, presented this text
to the European Parliament on june 10.
I think this may be interesting for you and for the list.
Greetings.
Dirk Adriaensens
www.irak.be
The Case for an Immediate Ban on the

Military Use of Depleted Uranium



Presented by Damacio A. Lopez, Executive Director, International Depleted
Uranium Study Team (IDUST) at a meeting of the European Parliament in
Brussels, Belgium, on June 10, 2003. Copyright (C) 2003 by IDUST.

Contact: damacio@idust.net

Website: www.idust.net





Introduction


The International Depleted Uranium Study Team (IDUST) is a non-governmental
organization (NGO) of international researchers, activists and scientists
dedicated to stopping the use of Depleted Uranium U-238 (DU) in military
weapons and in commercial products. Our focus is to increase public
awareness and understanding of both the problems associated with DU in
weapons and in commercial products and the need to enforce existing
international humanitarian and human rights law that prohibit the use of DU
in military weapons. Through our global education campaign and advocacy
group networking, we believe we can achieve the elimination of this highly
toxic and radioactive material that is being used across the globe. The goal
is an immediate International Moratorium followed by a Covention similar to
that of the Land Mines Convention.



My name is Damacio Lopez, and I am the director of IDUST. An automobile
accident in 1985 forced me to abandon my career as a professional golfer and
to spend several months in recovery back in my hometown of Socorro, New
Mexico, USA. While there, my convalescence was frequently disturbed by
tremendous explosions taking place less than three kilometers from my
parents' home. After each explosion, a black cloud of smoke would rise and
come over our home and over the small town of Socorro. I began to research
what was causing that black cloud of smoke. It turned out to be open air
testing of weaponry containing depleted uranium, or DU. And that discovery
is what brings me here to speak with you. I will address some of the
historical, political, legal and health issues concerning the use of DU in
weaponry. Of course, the use of DU in commercial products contains the same
elements of urgency.





Depleted Uranium (DU)



Depleted uranium is the radioactive and highly toxic waste product that
remains after natural uranium metal has been put through the ¡§enrichment¡¨
process. Natural uranium metal contains only 0.71% of the fissionable
uranium U-235 isotope that is necessary for nuclear reactor fuel and for
nuclear bombs. This concentration is too low for its effective use in either
application. The enrichment process divides the metal into two groups,
concentrating the U-235 isotope in one and depleting it in the other. The
first batch is called ¡§enriched uranium¡¨ and is sent off to be used by the
military and nuclear industries. The second batch, in which the U-235
isotope has been depleted to a concentration of 0.25%, is called ¡§depleted
uranium¡¨, or DU. It is composed of 99.75% of the uranium U-238 isotope and
still maintains 60% of the radioactivity found in the natural uranium metal.
Over the past 55 years, over 500.000.000 kilograms of DU waste have been
accumulated at nuclear processing facilities and nuclear power plants in the
United States,

along with 52.000.000 kilograms of reprocessed nuclear reactor waste.



Although by itself DU emits only alpha and gamma radiation (which is similar
to X-rays), over a period of a few weeks radioactive decay products build up
and permanently contaminate the DU. These short-lived decay products,
thorium Th-234 and protactinium Pa-234, each decay through emission of beta
and gamma radiation. Thus for each alpha particle emitted from a sample of
DU, two beta particles and three gamma ray photons are also emitted. The
significance of this fact will become apparent in the section below that
discusses the various health risks involved with exposure to DU.



Of additional significance is the confirmed fact that DU munitions contain
depleted uranium obtained from ¡§reprocessing¡¨ plants, not just enrichment
facilities. When spent nuclear fuel is removed from nuclear reactors, where
it has undergone years of neutron bombardment, it is sent to a reprocessing
facility where such elements as plutonium, americium, and neptunium are
extracted. Minute quantities of these highly toxic, non-natural radioactive
materials, along with the non-naturally occurring uranium isotope U-236
(which occurs only inside a nuclear reactor), remain as contaminants.
Numerous medical scientists have found traces of U-236 in the urine of
veterans of the 1991 Gulf War ten years after the conflict. Thus what is
being called ¡§depleted uranium¡¨ nowadays might better be referred to as
¡§Polluted DU¡¨.





Military Use of DU


DU is one of the densest elements known, being 1.75 times as dense as lead.
This fact alone makes it an attractive substance for use in armor plating
for tanks and for projectiles designed to penetrate heavy armor. In
addition, DU is a pyrophoric metal. Thus when a projectile made of DU
strikes a heavily armored tank, the force of impact causes the DU to ignite
and burn at such intense temperature that the projectile literally melts its
way through the armor. Once inside the tank, the burning metal typically
ignites fuel or armaments and creates a secondary explosion that destroys
the tank and kills the crew.



In the process of this conflagration, sub-microscopic particles of uranium
oxide ceramics are produced, creating an aerosol of radioactive particles
that are smaller than 5 microns in diameter. Studies have shown that between
10% and 75% of the DU in the penetrator can be converted to these minute
particles. Particles smaller than 5 microns can become permanently lodged
deep within the lungs when inhaled. And because these uranium oxide ceramics
have very low solubility, they remain in the body for decades.



Other weapons in which DU may be found include cruise missiles, both as
counterweights for control surfaces and as penetrator warheads, and in the
so-called ¡§bunker buster¡¨ bombs that gained notoriety in Afghanistan and
in the ¡§Shock and Awe¡¨ campaign against Baghdad in 2003. The US government
and others maintain that the purpose for using DU is to pierce armor and
other uses involving its heavy metal and pyrophoric qualities. However, DU
has a dual use because it does in fact poison personnel and civilian
populations alike.



DU penetrators were used extensively in the First Gulf War in 1991. The U.S.
Department of Defense has acknowledged that 320 tons of DU munitions were
expended, whereas the nuclear research foundation LAKA, of Holland,
estimates that the total amount of DU used in Iraq and Kuwait exceeded 800
tons. The International Committee of Radiological Protection estimates that
enough DU was used ¡§to cause 500,000 potential deaths, if it were inhaled."



DU munitions were also used by the U.S. and U.K. in Kosovo and Bosnia. There
is evidence that they may have been used in Afghanistan. They have
definitely been used in the recent invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and U.K.
forces. And unless effective international action is taken, more devestating
weapons such as mini-nukes will follow.



Unfortunately, if the past is any guide, local civilian populations are
unlikely to be warned when DU weapons are used even if DU contaminates their
food or water supplies. Prior to the Gulf War, the US army was aware of the
potential for DU contamination to cause health problems among civilian
populations. Yet the Department of Defense did nothing to warn the
inhabitants of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq about DU contamination of their
air, soil and water. Rather, US army reports expressed more concern about
public outcry and future restrictions on the use of DU weapons than about
contaminating lands at home and abroad and poisoning soldiers and civilians.



These weapons have also been tested since the 1970¡¦s at domestic firing
ranges and bombing sites in many countries including the United States,
United Kingdom, Japan and Puerto Rico to name a few. Every time DU has been
used it has left contamination and human suffering.





Historical Perspective


The first use of uranium in munitions occurred in World War II. Albert
Speer, author of Inside the Third Reich and former Nazi Munitions Minister,
makes this statement concerning the shortage of ammunition material in Nazi
Germany and the subsequent use of their uranium stock as solid-core
ammunition: "In the summer of 1943, wolframite imports from Portugal were
cut off, which created a critical situation for the production of solid-core
ammunition. I thereupon ordered the use of uranium cores for this type of
ammunition."  For the first time in history, solid-core ammunition made of
radioactive material was used in military combat.



Also in 1943, the US War Department proposed research into the "Use of
Radioactive Material as a Military Weapon" to General L.R. Grove who headed
the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico. One of the possible
military uses of radioactive materials against enemy personnel would be as a
gas warfare agent. The material would be ground into particles of
microscopic size and would be distributed in the form of dust or smoke by
ground-fired projectiles, land vehicles, airplanes, or aerial bombs. In this
form, it would be inhaled by personnel. It could also be dissolved in
liquid. In 1990 the U.S. Army Foreign Service and Technology Center warned
of the possibility that, ¡§conventional explosives could be used by threat
force to disseminate radioactive materials (e.g., from reactor waste or
radium and radioactive isotopes of cesium and cobalt from radiotherapy
sources) on the battlefield.¡¨



Secret human radiation experiments began in 1944 to better understand the
effects of radiation weapons on human health and the environment;
experiments involving intentional environmental releases of radiation were
designed to test human health effects of ionizing radiation. The experiments
continued until 1974. The US government deliberately dropped radioactive
materials from planes or released it on the ground in New Mexico and other
states. In 1947 a secret memo from the US Atomic Energy Commission had this
self- incriminating statement about medical experiments on human subjects:
"It is desired that no document be released which refers to experiments with
humans and might have adverse affects on public opinion or result in legal
suits. Documents covering such work field should be classified 'secret.'"



In the 1970's weapons containing depleted uranium began to be tested and
developed on firing ranges and bombing sites across the US by the military
and their civilian defense contractors. One such test site is Socorro, New
Mexico, home to the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, a
publicly supported state university, where DU open-air testing began in
1972. The DU work is carried out by one of the school's divisions, the
Energetic Materials Research and Technology Center (EMRTC), formerly known
as the Terminal Effects Research and Analysis Group (TERA). Military and
private defense contractors also test DU there. This test site is at the top
of Socorro Mountain, from which water wells supply drinking water for the
city of Socorro. Socorro's 8,000-member community is less than three
kilometer downgrade and downwind from the test site. An unusual number of
hydrocephalus cases appeared during the 1980s in Socorro. Three of New
Mexico's 19 cases of hydrocephalus recorded between 1984 and 1988 occurred
in tiny Socorro; during that same period a large increase in cancer
mortality was also observed.



DU penetrator manufacturing sites in the U.S. have also had their share of
problems from wide-spread contamination and resulting elevated incidence of
cancer. The National Lead site in Colonie, NewYork was ultimately closed
completely after DU was detected some 25 miles downwind from the plant. The
plant near Concord, Massachusetts is now an Environmental Protection Agency
Superfund Site, consuming millions of dollars for cleanup. The Jonesborough,
Kentucky plant has also exhibited higher than normal cancer rates among its
employees.





The Impact of DU¡¦s Radiation on Health


Is there any evidence that these radiation weapons have caused negative
health effects to soldiers and civilians? In the United States over 250,000
veterans returning from the 1991 Gulf War have reported to Veterans'
Hospitals asking for help in what has become known as the Gulf War Syndrome.
Over 8,000 of these veterans have died. 206,000 of the 697,000 veterans of
the Gulf War have filed claims for veterans' benefits based on
service-related injuries and illnesses, over 159.000 have been granted
disability payment.  Many NATO troops stationed in Kosovo and Bosnia have
become ill and dozens have died in what is being called the Balkan Syndrome.



In Iraq over 1.5 million soldiers and civilians have died of unnatural
causes since the 1991 Gulf War, one-third of them children under the age of
5. Leukemia, cancer, birth defects and rare diseases have increased at an
alarming rate in this country. Studies conducted by Iraqi scientists have
found higher levels than that permitted by international standards for U-238
and its products in drinking water of various city water supplies and in the
Tigris River. Vegetables, fish and meat in southern Iraq are showing levels
of radiation contamination as well. In the US, officials have conducted
studies that clearly show that DU enters the food chain and contaminates
water. DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. If not cleaned up, it will
thus continue to harm all forms of life in contaminated areas till the end
of time.



What indications do we have that these illnesses are related to DU? Some
understanding of how DU emissions may harm human health can be drawn from
existing knowledge of how radiation in general affects human health. Dr.
Marvin Resnikoff, a noted American particle physicist, writes: "When
inhaled, uranium increases the probability of lung cancer. When ingested,
uranium concentrates in the bone. Within the bone, it increases the
probability of bone cancer, or, in bone marrow, leukemia. Uranium also
resides in the soft tissue, including the gonads, increasing the probability
of genetic health effects, including birth defects and spontaneous
abortions."



A 1995 article in the prestigious International Journal of Occupational
Medicine and Toxicology included this information on DU health hazards in
the First Gulf War: "Depleted uranium particles can be inhaled easily in
smoke resulting from the impact of armor-piercing projectiles on hard
targets and the aerosolization of uranium into small particles. If even one
small particle (less than five microns in diameter, 5-millionths of a meter,
the size of cigarette ash) is trapped in the lungs, surrounding tissues can
be exposed up to 272 times the maximum permitted dose for workers in the
radiation industry."



In January, 2003, the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR) released
their first report, ¡§Health Effects of Ionizing Radiation Exposure at Low
Doses for Protection Purposes¡¨, Chris Busby, editor. The 46 scientists who
collaborated in the preparation of this report affirm through
well-documented research the considerably higher risks to human health that
are associated with exposure to ionizing radiation from a radioactive
particle embedded within living tissue. The ¡§linear/no-threshold¡¨ model
that is currently used by governmental organizations to define exposure
limits is shown to be wholly inadequate for these cases.





The Impact of DU¡¦s Chemical Toxicity on Health


In addition to presenting a radiation hazard, DU is also a highly toxic
substance. As with most heavy metals, it can disrupt the normal operation of
many proteins that are essential for normal body functioning. For example,
uranium¡¦s interference with renal proteins in the kidneys has been known
for many years and has been widely documented. In 2002, the Royal Society
(UK) issued a report stating that it could be possible for tank crews
sustaining ¡§friendly fire¡¨ from a DU penetrator could absorb enough DU
into their bodies to experience complete kidney failure within two days.



Also in 2002, researchers in Durham, North Carolina (USA) discovered that
exposure to uranium (as uranyl acetate) produced sensorimotor deficits in
rats. Interesting that lethargy is one of the common symptoms reported by
1991 Gulf War veterans. Some researchers have recently come to suspect that
chemical toxicity and radiation work synergistically to enhance the
devastation caused by internal exposure to DU.



Alexandra C. Miller, et alia, of the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research
Institute, in Bethesda, Mariland, USA, demonstrated another avenue of
chemical toxicity with DU, namely its effectiveness as a catalyst for
destructive chemical reactions. Her in-vitro studies showed that DU at pH 7
can induce oxidative DNA damage through catalytic interaction with a
cellular oxygen species, suggesting that in a living cell, DU can induce
carcinogenic lesions through its chemical toxicity alone.



John F. Kalinich, also of the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute,
found that in-vitro treatment of mouse a macrophage cell line with depleted
uranium (as uranyl chloride) resulted within 24 hours in observable events
associated with apoptosis (cell death), including morphological changes and
DNA fragmentation.



Jose L. Domingoa, of the ¡§Rovira i Virgili" University in Reus, Spain,
reported in Reproductive Toxicology in 2001 a detailed literature review
covering research that demonstrated that uranium is a developmental toxicant
when given orally or subcutaneously (SC) to mice. Decreased fertility,
embryo/fetal toxicity including teratogenicity, and reduced growth of the
offspring have been observed following uranium exposure at different
gestation periods. Data on the toxic effects of depleted uranium on
reproduction and development were also reviewed.



Inhaled uranium oxide particles have been shown to reside in the lungs for
decades, causing chronic exposure of surrounding lung tissue to low-level
but continuous radiation dose. During this time, the particles dissolve very
slowly into the bloodstream, from which molecules of uranium oxides can then
be deposited in bone tissue, gonads and lymphatic tissue. Thus it is not
surprising that inhaled DU can ultimately be responsible for leukemia,
sexual disorders, and genetic abnormalities in a victim¡¦s offspring.



The facts, are straightforward. DU is an anti-personnel weapon that is
designed to cause superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering. If we do not
act soon to ban the use of DU in weapons, humans yet unborn are going to pay
a fearsome price. Radiation from DU will affect the human gene pool,
bequeathing to our descendents countless inherited defects.





The Cover Up


The Pentagon, NATO, and the British Ministry of Defense have always
downplayed the danger of DU, saying it was "less radioactive than uranium
ore¡¨, pointing out that natural uranium is part of our environment and
accounts for a certain level of background radiation to which we are exposed
day in and day out. The tacit and totally unproven assumption behind this
statement is that background radiation is harmless. However, lung cancer,
leukemia, lymphomas and birth defects have been with us since the dawn of
time. We have no idea what risk factors (i.e. deaths per 100,000 from a
particular cancer or disease) are associated with background radiation.
Could they be as high as 500 deaths per 100,000 per year (0.5%)? If so, can
we justify adding 50 more deaths per 100,000 by intentionally increasing the
radiation to which we are all exposed by ¡§only¡¨ 10%? The data for making
these decisions is simply not available.



Another specious argument is that, due to the density of uranium oxide
aerosol particles, they cannot travel more then a few tens of meters from
the site of impact where they were created. However, DU particles were
regularly detected in instruments 25 miles downwind of a DU penetrator
fabrication facility in Colonie, New York. Radiation detectors in Greece and
Bulgaria showed a spike in readings in the days following DU use in Kosovo.
Though extremely dense, these fine particles can easily acquire a static
charge and become attached to ambient dust particles and hitch-hike great
distances. The effective perimeter of concern for DU contamination is much,
much greater than military sources would like us to believe. The exposed
civilians from even limited engagements must therefore number in the
millions.



One might wonder why the military is so anxious to downplay the great risks
associated with DU. It is true that anti-tank penetrators made of DU are
remarkably effective. It is also true that armor plate made of DU is
virtually impenetrable except when struck by a DU penetrator. And finally,
because of the great stockpile of DU, as a raw material it is available to
manufacturers at virtually no cost, so it is cheap.



There may be other reasons as well. First, DU munitions have become a major
commodity in the world¡¦s arms trade (see below), and arms manufacturers and
dealers are powerful lobbies in many of the world¡¦s nations. Second, an
admission now that DU is indeed a hazardous material and its use seriously
contaminates both the environment and civilian populations could result in
astronomical financial liabilities. Who should be responsible for the
cleanup of battlefields and testing sites where DU has been used? Who should
be responsible for medical treatment and health care of hundreds of
thousands of civilians suffering from exposure to DU? And finally, what
legal liability in terms of international war crimes might such an admission
incur?





Worldwide Proliferation


The U.S. is not alone in making DU weapons. The United Kingdom, Russia,
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Thailand, Israel, France and others have
followed the U.S. lead in developing DU-containing weapon systems for their
inventories and selling them in the world's arms market. Legislation in the
U.S. made it permissible to sell the M-833 or comparable anti-tank shells
containing DU penetrators to these NATO countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Major non-NATO allies
included were Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.



How is it possible that these illegal weapons can be sold in the world's
arms market? The U.S. International Security and Development Cooperative Act
of 1980 states that DU may be sold upon a finding that an export of uranium
depleted in the isotope U-235 is incorporated in defense articles or
commodities solely to take advantage of the high density or pyrophoric
characteristics unrelated to its radioactivity. Such exports shall be exempt
from the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and from the Nuclear
Non- proliferation Act of 1978. The U.S. is subverting these laws by simply
saying that they are not using the uranium for its radiation effects, which
are poisonous. But DU is a dual use weapon. Once in the environment, it is
inevitable that it will poison personnel through inhalation and ingestion,
causing illness and, in some cases, a lingering death.





International Law and DU


The United Nations Sub-commission on Human Rights in its 1996 session
condemned weaponry containing depleted uranium as a weapon of mass
destruction and indiscriminate use, both against members of the armed forces
and against civilian populations. The Commission spoke of these weapons not
only as resulting in death, misery and disability, but also as being
incompatible with existing norms. The Sub-commission was also concerned
about the long-term consequences on human life and the environment following
use of DU on the battlefield.



In a 1996 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice affirmed that
under Humanitarian Law, ¡§States must never use weapons that are incapable
of distinguishing between civilian and military targets.¡¨ The use of
weapons containing DU violates Humanitarian Law, which prohibits
indiscriminate or willful killing. Willful killing is a grave breach (war
crime) under the "grave breach" article in each of the four Geneva
Conventions. Regarding Protocol Additional I: Articles 51 and 52 prohibit
targeting the civilian population or engaging in military operations likely
to have indiscriminate and undue effect on the civilian population. Article
85 makes violations of Articles 51 and 52 grave breaches (war crimes).



The UN Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities is preparing a report on weapons containing DU. This report was
originally to be completed in 1998 but the Rappateur assigned to present the
report was absent. The report was again scheduled for presentation in 1999,
2000, and 2001 and in each case the Rappateur assigned the responsibility of
presenting the report was either absent or not prepared. In 2002, Sik Yuen
was scheduled to submit the report. He was subsequently voted off the
Sub-commission and was not re-elected to the Sub-commission as a result of
intensive lobbying by the U.S. and U.K. However, to the consternation of the
U.S., he submitted his report anyway. And the 2002 Sub-commission voted to
have him do a follow-up (due 2003) in spite of the fact that he was no
longer on the Sub-commission. The report is now due at the August 2003
session with Justice Sik Yuen from Mauritius as Special Rapporteur.





DU Cleanup


Can battlefields and test ranges be cleaned? To clean up contaminated soil
would require the removal of up to 12 inches of the top soil in Iraq and
Kuwait that has hundreds of square miles contaminated with DU. This could
easily cost tens of billions of dollars. To clean the water and air would be
impossible. Last summer the New York Times reported on a DU clean-up effort
in a tiny cove in Montenegro where the US fired 88 rounds of DU bullets on
the last day of the Kosovo war (no one knows why). The Montenegro
government, without any help from the US or NATO, has closed several acres
and is trying to decontaminate the area. Wearing protective gear, several
workers are sweeping the area for radioactivity, removing and packaging for
storage huge amounts of contaminated soil. The effort will take years. All
this because of 88 rounds of DU bullets, a trifle compared to the tons of DU
used in Iraq and Kuwait. In the state of Indiana, it is estimated that it
will cost between four and five billion dollars to clean up 500 acres at the
recently closed Jefferson Proving Ground, where an estimated 152,000 pounds
of DU has been used in tests over the years.





Conclusions and Recommendations


The controversy over DU use pits military interests against the health of
citizens and soldiers around the world. The military's decision to use DU in
spite of its obvious health risks displays a blatant disregard for human
life and well being, and will create long-term financial consequences for
producers, users, and victims of DU alike. By virtue of the world¡¦s huge
stockpile of DU, it is clearly the world's largest radioactive waste
problem. The use of DU in bullets, tank armor on battlefields, and DU test
ranges throughout the world proliferates radioactive waste globally,
endangering the health of soldiers and civilians alike.



The use of DU weapons places an unacceptable and excessive risk on human
health and the environment. We must move quickly to implement the
recommendations below to stop this senseless tragedy.





Recommendations


1.      Establish and enforce an international agreement that bans the
military use of DU in all its forms, including its use in bombs, cruise
missiles, munitions and armor.



2.      Require that all nations involved in the production, testing and/or
use of DU munitions mitigate the environmental impact of their activities by
conducting a full-scale and thorough cleanup of all sites and battlefields
contaminated by their use of DU.



3.      Encourage all governments to review their regulations and policies
relating to the handling and disposal of radioactive waste materials and to
establish appropriate cleanup procedures of sites contaminated with DU and
other radioactive substances. These policies should include assurances that
all personnel, whether civilian or military, working around DU be given
adequate education and issued appropriate radiation protection to minimize
possible health risks from radiation exposure.



4.      Conduct full-scale, independent epidemiological studies of military
personnel and their families, of war veterans and their families, and of
civilians who have been exposed to DU, with the goal of determining more
precisely the toxic and radiological effects of exposure to DU as well as
the combined effects. Family studies should include examination for evidence
of infertility, miscarriage, and birth abnormalities due to exposure to DU.
Civilians to be included in these studies should include populations located
near battlefields where DU munitions were used and civilian personnel living
at or near DU manufacturing facilities and DU munitions test sites.



5.      Establish a peer review committee of leading radiation health
experts from the civilian sector that would act as a "Citizens Watchdog
Authority" over all governmental and military studies conducted in
compliance with recommendation #4 above. Such a peer review committee could
ensure that appropriate rules of research are applied, that the studies are
free from bias, and that they fully account for the latency of the
radiological health effects of DU in the human body. The studies should be
conducted over the life span of each affected person.





About the speaker;



Damacio A. Lopez is the Executive Director of IDUST (International DU Study
Team), a non-governmental organization of researchers, activists, soldiers,
doctors, and scientists throughout the world dedicated to immediately
stopping the use of DU in military weapons. Lopez first became involved in
DU research in 1985 when he organized Socorro residents in the investigation
of potential health risks associated with nearby explosive testing of DU
weaponry at New Mexico Tech. He has authored and co-authored many works,
including: ¡§Friendly Fire, the Link Between Depleted Uranium Munitions and
Human Health Risk,¡¨1994; ¡§Uranium Battlefields Home and Abroad: Depleted
Uranium Use by the U.S. Department of Defense,¡¨1993; and ¡§Progress on the
Persian War Illness: Reality and Hypotheses,¡¨1995, published by the
International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology. Lopez served
as a consultant to the United Nations Sub-Commission on Human Rights in
Geneva, Switzerland in 1997. He can be reached at idust@sdc.org.





---------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message -----
From: "emir chen" <hc228@cam.ac.uk>
To: <healthandjusticeforiraq@yahoogroups.com>; "CASI"
<casi-discuss@lists.casi.org.uk>; "­Y³·" <emirhui@yahoogroups.com.tw>
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 12:25 PM
Subject: [casi] Talk on depleted uranium in Iraq in Manchester


>
> [ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ]
>
>
>
> Depleted Uranium in Iraq
> The War Ends, the
> Contamination Continues...
>
>
> A talk by:
> Damacio Lopez
> International Depleted
> Uranium Study Team (IDUST)
>
>
> Damacio Lopez is a native of Socorro, New Mexico and has been involved in
organising the community there against nearby explosive testing of DU
> weapons. He is executive director of IDUST and has travelled to Iraq to
take radiation contamination measurements. Lopez is also the author of
¡¥Friendly Fire: The Link between Depleted Uranium Munitions and Human
Health Risks¡¦.
>
>
> Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount Street (Behind Central Library), Manchester
City Centre,
> 7pm Friday 25th July
>
>
> Organised by:
> Bridge 5 Mill, 22a Beswick Street, Ancoats, Manchester, M4 7HR, Tel./Fax.:
+44 (0)161 273 8293
> E-mail info@cadu.org.uk
> Web Site: www.cadu.org.uk
>
>
>
>
>
****************************************************************************
*****************
> The Campaign Against Depleted Uranium, Bridge 5 Mill, 22a Beswick Street,
> Ancoats, Manchester, M4 7HR Tel./Fax.: +44 (0)161 273 8293
> E-Mail info@cadu.org.uk     Website: http://www.cadu.org.uk
>
>
> CADU's quarterly newsletter is available free of charge by E-Mail (send us
a
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year.
> Please send your cheque draft or postal order in ¢G sterling to the
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