Opinion - News Analysis

Study suggests cancer risk from depleted uranium

James Randerson

Researchers show that it damages DNA in human lung cells.

DEPLETED URANIUM, used in armour-piercing ammunition, causes widespread damage to DNA that could lead to lung cancer, according to a new study. The study adds to growing evidence that depleted uranium causes health problems on battlefields long after hostilities have ceased.

DU is a by-product of uranium refinement for nuclear power. It is much less radioactive than other uranium isotopes, and its high density — twice that of lead — makes it useful for armour and armour piercing shells. It has been used in conflicts including Bosnia, Kosovo, and Iraq and there have been increasing concerns about the health effects of DU dust left on the battlefield. In November, the U.K. Ministry of Defence was forced to counteract claims that apparent increases in cancers and birth defects among Iraqis in southern Iraq were due to DU in weapons.

Now researchers at the University of Southern Maine have shown that DU damages DNA in human lung cells. The team, led by John Pierce Wise, exposed cultures of the cells to uranium compounds at different concentrations.

The compounds caused breaks in the chromosomes within cells and stopped them from growing and dividing healthily. "These data suggest that exposure to particulate DU may pose a significant [DNA damage] risk and could possibly result in lung cancer," the team wrote in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.

Previous studies have shown that uranium miners are at higher risk of lung cancer, but this has often been put down to the fact that miners are also exposed to radon, another cancer-causing chemical.

Professor Wise said it was too early to say whether DU caused lung cancer in people exposed on the battlefield because the disease takes several decades to develop. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007

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