Children At DU Risk

Soil contaminated with debris from depleted uranium shells could be putting children in the Balkans and the Gulf at an increased risk of developing cancer and kidney damage claimed an article this July in the New Scientist magazine. Particularly at risk are children who play in areas that were bombarded by DU munitions.

Researchers from the University of Florence and the Tuscan Environment Protection Agency (ARPAT) calculated that children could inhale a radiation dose from contaminated soil that would exceed safety levels set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Swallowing contaminated soil would increase the risk further." In sites targeted by DU munitions, special measures have to be adopted to reduce exposures," said Daniele Dominici, a physicist at the University of Florence. These would include removing topsoil and monitoring water and food supplies.