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Studies Find No Link between Depleted Uranium And Balkans Health Problems: Pentagon
Medical and environmental studies have found no link between depleted uranium munitions and leukemia or other medical problems among peacekeepers in the Balkans, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The Pentagon reached that conclusion after reviewing studies by a number of countries, international organizations and private groups that were launched following news reports in January of a "Balkans Syndrome" among Italians who served as peacekeepers there.
US Air Force A-10 aircraft fired some 31,000 30 mm depleted uranium rounds in Kosovo and another 10,000 rounds in Bosnia, which raised suspicions of a link to a rash of leukemia cases reported in Italy.
Depleted uranium is a mildly radioactive heavy metal that is prized by the military because munitions made with it can slice through armor. Armor made from the metal on the other hand is exceptionally difficult to penetrate.
"The medical and environmental assessments and investigations made by various countries, international organizations and private groups have had generally similar results," the Pentagon paper said.
"None have found a connection between DU exposure and leukemia or other medical problems in people, and none have found widespread DU contamination sufficient to impact the general health of the general population or deployed military personnel."
It said at least 13 countries had sent teams to the Balkans to collect and analyze samples of soil, air, water, vegetation and food, and the United Nations and other international organizations also conducted environmental surveys.
"These surveys consistently report no widespread DU contamination and no current impact on the health of the general population or deployed personnel," the paper said.
Most of the countries that sent troops on peacekeeping missions in the Balkans have begun medical monitoring and epidemiological studies, it said.
"To date, none have found a connection between DU exposure and leukemia or any other pathology," the paper said.
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