i believe it is the large armor piercing s s...
and no, would i eat it..
Depleted Uranium has a VERY LOW radioactive state. It's particle size is also very large and not easily absorbed by the skin. I would put the dangers of it less than tha of a gas station attendent. I know college professors who use chunks of the stuff as door stops.
This, of course, has been reported by the foreign press before and largely ignored by the American M.S.M...
Health BoardsThe Sunday Times (Times of London)
September 3 2000 WORLD
Tests show Gulf war victims have uranium poisoning
Jonathon Carr-Brown and Martin Meissonnier
NEW evidence that Gulf war syndrome exists and was caused by radiation poisoning will be revealed today by a former American army colonel who was at the centre of his government's attempts to diagnose the illness. Dr Asaf Durakovic will tell a conference of eminent nuclear scientists in Paris that "tens of thousands" of British and American soldiers are dying from radiation from depleted uranium (DU) s s fired during the Gulf war. The findings will undermine the British and American governments' claims that Gulf war syndrome does not exist and intensify pressure from veterans on both sides of the Atlantic for
compensation.
<snip>
Durakovic, who left America because he was told his life was in danger if he continued his research, has concluded that troops inhaled the tiny uranium particles after American and British
forces fired more than 700,000 DU s s during the conflict.
The finding begins to explain for the first time why medical orderlies and mechanics are the principal victims of Gulf war syndrome. British Army engineers who removed tanks hit by DU s s from the battlefield and medical personnel who cut off the clothes of Iraqi casualties in field hospitals have been disproportionately affected. Once inside the body, DU causes a slow death from cancers, irreversible kidney damage or wastage from immune deficiency disorders.
In the UK, where more than 400 veterans are estimated to have died from "Gulf war syndrome", at least 50 of those victims came from Reme (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) units. Others, such as Ray Bristow, 42, of Hull, who was a theatre technician for 32 Field Hospital, are now wheelchair-bound. Tests carried out by Durakovic on Bristow showed that, nine years after leaving the Gulf, he had more than 100 times the safe limit of DU in his body. Durakovic said: "I doubt whether the MoD or Pentagon will have the audacity to challenge these results. I can't say this is the solitary cause of Gulf war syndrome, but we now have clear evidence that it is a leading factor in the majority of victims.
"I hope the US and UK governments finally realise that, by continuing to use this ammunition, they are effectively poisoning their own soldiers." An MoD spokesman said it would study any new evidence: "Our aim is to get the best care for British veterans and our views are based on the best evidence around."
Anyone who is interested in the "real" science behind DU can go to the national library of medicine's information clearing house - in this case "pub med", and look it up, here:
NCBI
Search for the term "depleted uranium". That search yields over one hundred and seventy abstracts. Don't be lead - review the literature, and decide for yourself.
It's pretty clear (to me at least) that this is a highly toxic substance.
Notice that I said highly toxic and not radioactive...
LinkUranium is pyrophoric and ignites when a DU round hits the target. That releases aerosol, fine solid particles (not really a vapor). Obviously it is radioactive and chemically toxic and chemical toxicty is actually more significant than radioactivity because DU has such a low specific radioactivity. Note that tungsten, which is also a very dense material, is often used as a DU alternative. However it has been linked to cancer as well.
Hey, the military isn't the EPA, but I do think we need to look at the long term effects of the combination of the heavy metal toxicity with the low level radiation in these types of weapons.
It's not all about it's radioactivity. The element is safe because your skin blocks most of the particles it emits, as does your clothing. Gama ray radiation from DU is minimal.
However, it's a heavy metal, and ALL heavy metals are highly toxic when they enter your body.
Except for the heavy metals your body needs to survive. Although this is very small doses. The risks from DU exposure in military personel are less than those for firefighters with smoke.
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