Is depleted uranium dangerous?

Question

al_3x4nd3r

DU is a highly toxic heavy metal. By the very nature of how it is used, as armor piercing munitions, it is a serious environmental polutant since traces of it are converted to fine particulates that can easily be injested..

Answer 1

Depends on who you ask, depleted Uranium is used as tank armor and anti armor rounds by many countries (including the US) citing them as safe,
But DU has been known to cause serious illness, and has been linked to Gulf War syndrome, birth defects, skin and respiratory problems and radiation poisoning
According to US military, Depleted Uranium is only dangerous when heated up to unsafe levels or burned.

But According to Transformers the Movie, they're one of the few things that can penetrate a Decepticon, so I'm for keeping them handy...

Answer 2

Yes. All one has to do is go to the Balkans to see what the use of DU-weapons has wreaked. Thousands upon thousands of people developing cancer within the same time frame (if it was a communicable disease, it would be called an epidemic). The ground is so polluted in areas that the crops are unfit for human or animal consumption. The water table, as well as nearby water supplies, have also become contaminated (some worse off than others); in certain areas, fish by the tons were floating up to the shorelines due to the levels of contamination.

What's worse is the narrow-sightedness of the idiot's using the weapons (the U.S. in this case, with NATO's approval). Not only was the water table in Serbia contaminated, but so were the rivers that fed into the Danube, Adriatic and subsequently Mediterranean. Also, wind currents can (and did) carry the dust across many parts of Europe, where they also experienced "disturbingly" high cancer outbreaks. And let's not forget, airborne particles do eventually settle back down to Earth, so there will be additional ground contamination.

Answer 3

Yes. The "depleted" part means that the radioactive isotopes have been largely removed from the mix found in nature, and you have to subtract that from the stupid answers you're bound to attract from your question, but it's a toxic heavy metal. The level of toxicity is pretty low, but the amount used can be a worry. Of course, there's also lead in conventional bullets, and lead is also a toxic heavy metal.

Answer 4

Depleted uranium is not as dangerous as people claim. The stuff primary human health hazard is as a heavy-metal poison and has a hazard profile similar to that of lead.

The radiation from the material is low enough that you would suffer kidney failure long before you can get a radiation injury.

It is also poorly absorbed by the human body. thus 99% of all that you get exposed to passes through your digestive system and is eliminated as feces.

There is a cottage industry that preys on people who have never had college-level chemistry or physics classes by creating rumors about how "dangerous" the stuff is for their political ends. I suggest that you ignore them.

Answer 5

"Depleted uranium is not a significant health hazard unless it is taken into the body. External exposure to radiation from depleted uranium is generally not a major concern because the alpha particle emitted by its isotopes travel only a few centimeters in air or can be stopped by a sheet of paper."
from Wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium)

Answer 6

depleted uranium is not dangerous unless you, for some reason swallow a chunk of it or get shavings in your eyes or an open cut. its not dangerous to touch because it has been depleted. It is used as ammunition and armor today, and plenty of people touch it and dont get any sort of sickness or rashes. Dont worry yourself

Answer 7

Depleted means lacking of something.

The depleted projectiles we us under the laws governing modern warfare are NOT radioactive, They are a heavy dense metal, the dust from the projectile penetrating to target is dangerous to breath, it will poison you similar to lead poisoning.

Vet-USAF 44MMS

Answer 8

Depleted Uranium.(better known as DU) is very,very dangerous, However to discribe all the dangers would require a book. Please go to Yahoo search engine or Goolge and read,read,read it will wake you up and make you very sick! (just type in your seach engine, depleted uranium danger)

Answer 9

Not usually unless you eat it or ingest it somehow. People freak out but if you do quick wiki search of it you can see it is used for alot of things. But I don't believe any longterm studies have been done.

Answer 10

YES, it is still very radio active and requires special handling