Understanding the Dangers of Depleted Uranium Munitions

Intro to long essay.

Lost in the abyss of media deception and misrepresentation that surrounds our war on “terror” is the salient fact that a long list of countries from all around the globe are actively waging chemical and nuclear warfare in the middle-east. DU is a very dense metal that is made when fissionable uranium is separated from natural uranium to manufacture nuclear bombs and reactor fuel. It remains radioactive for about 4.5 billion years.

The most obvious damage is caused by the presence of this DU in the soil. This can create up to a hundredfold increase in uranium levels in ground water, according to the U.N.

The less obvious and more deadly damage to people is done when the round is fired and hits its target. Uranium-238 is pyrophoric, meaning it combusts when in contact with air so DU shells are burning as they fly and upon impact, ~70% of the projectile burns up creating a plume of ceramic DU oxide particles.

This plume contains extremely fine ceramic uranium dust that is spread by the wind, inhaled by people and animals, and absorbed by plants, animals, and into the human body. The small particles are carried across vast distances until the rain takes them to the soil and water becoming interwoven into our food chain and water supply.

The first use of DU in war was by Israel under U.S. supervision in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 against the Arabs nations.

trying to test the topics here upvote this post if I hit a couple dozen I will post the rest of this essay I wrote complete with illustrations.