Depleted Uranium: Exposure and Possible Health Effects

Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of the enrichment process of 235U used for fission in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. It has both civilian and military applications. The military use of DU is of defensive as well as of offensive nature, being mainly employed as armor-piercing ammunition. So far, the usage of ammunitions containing DU has been officially confirmed in four military conflicts: Iraq (1991), Bosnia (1994), Kosovo (1999), and again Iraq (2003). During their deployment in the military actions, most penetrators are thought to have missed their intended targets. Therefore, a substantial amount of DU is still present in the environment and may act as a source of contamination for the environment and the population. The possible effects of this radioactive and chemically toxic material have attracted particular notice. To evaluate these consequences, it is important to have accurate methods to assess the exposure to DU in both environmental and biological samples. This article is therefore intended to point out the problematic nature of the experimental techniques and of the analytical methods so far used to quantify the exposure to DU in the light of possible health effects of DU.