Tests show Gulf war victims have uranium poisoning
September 3 2000
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) shells 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.
Durakovic, who is professor of nuclear medicine at
Georgetown University, Washington, and the former head of
nuclear medicine at the US Army's veterans' affairs medical
facility in Delaware, will tell the conference that he and
his team of American and Canadian scientists have discovered
life-threateningly high levels of DU in Gulf veterans 10
years after the desert war.
His findings, which have been verified by four independent
experts, is embarrassing for the Ministry of Defence (MoD)
and American Defence Department, which have consistently
refused to test Gulf war veterans for DU.
Durakovic will tell the European Association of Nuclear
Medicine that tests on 17 veterans have shown DU in the
urine and bones of 70% of them.
Depleted uranium does not occur naturally. It is the
by-product of the industrial processing of waste from
nuclear reactors and is better known as weapons-grade
uranium. It is used to strengthen the tips of shells to
ensure that they pierce armour.
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 shells 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 shells
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."
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