What is Depleted Uranium?

Depleted uranium ^[1] (alias depleted or depleted or decaying uranium) refers to uranium with a lower U235 content than natural uranium. The U.S. Atomic Energy Standards Commission (NRC) has classified U235 below 0.711% as depleted uranium. The US Department of Defense has set the U.S. Department of Defense standard for U235 content below 0.3%, while the actual used standard is 0.20%. Depleted uranium can greatly increase armor penetration strength or armor resistance. It is commonly used as a depleted uranium bomb or armor plate in the military. The entry details the physical, chemical, utilization, and hazards of depleted uranium.

Depleted uranium , also known as depleted uranium or depleted uranium or decay uranium, etc.

Causes harmful health effects of depleted uranium. Depleted uranium has a low specific activity (39.4 kBq / g) and can be considered as "only weakly radioactive." Nevertheless, according to a linear dose-response relationship, exposure to depleted uranium must be considered a potential cancer risk, although its level is lower than many other radioactive materials in the environment from natural and artificial sources ^[1] .

Ingested or inhaled uranium and its chemical toxicity can cause harmful health effects. Compared to radiation effects, chemical effects are usually dominant. There are few reports of harmful effects caused by uranium intake. Few people have ingested uranium large enough to cause harmful effects. Therefore, data on the possible health effects of uranium intake are mainly derived from experiments with animals similar to human digestive systems, including rats, dogs, pigs and monkeys, but excluding rabbits and ruminants.

It can generally be concluded that the chemical toxicity of soluble uranium compounds is greater than that of insoluble ones. This toxicity mainly causes kidney damage. Impairment of renal function is related to the degree of exposure and occurs a few days after ingestion. These effects often disappear after stopping exposure, but the morphological structure of the kidney no longer returns to normal ^[7] .

After the Gulf War, an Iraqi report on depleted uranium speculated that Iraq's current health and environmental effects are linked to depleted uranium. Reports indicate that the incidence of certain cancers has increased, including childhood leukemia. The report also pointed to an increase in congenital malformations and immune system disorders. Thousands of U.S., Canadian, and British soldiers who participated in the Gulf War claimed to have suffered from various discomforts afterwards, commonly known as "Gulf War Syndrome". These veterans have been exposed to a variety of damaging or potentially damaging risk factors, including environmental discomfort, pesticides such as organophosphate chemicals, skin and insect repellents, and medical drugs such as etimidin bromide (NA PS), low-level chemical warfare agents, multiple vaccination and depleted uranium. In summary, today's research has shown that many veterans with "Gulf War Syndrome" have been exposed to many substances. Whether depleted uranium acts as a medicament for the Gulf War Syndrome is still under discussion.