Study Finds Half of Veterans With Gulf War Illness Tested Positive for Depleted Uranium…

A study led by Col. Asaf Durakovic of the Uranium Medical Research Center in Washington, DC, analysed the urine of 27 British, Canadian and US Gulf War veterans and found over half tested positive for depleted uranium. According to a report in the August issue of the peer- reviewed and highly regarded journal Military Medicine, all of the participants had Gulf War illness and all had inhaled depleted uranium during their service in the Persian Gulf 8 to 9 years before. Fourteen of the urine samples tested positive for depleted uranium. The researchers also detected depleted uranium in the lung and bone of one Gulf War veteran who had died.

Leonard Dietz, a co-author of the study, said "This is the first measurement of Gulf War veterans for depleted uranium using the best current scientific analytical methodology". The findings of the study strengthen arguments that depleted uranium stays in the body for indefinite periods of time and has serious consequences for health. Although only a small sample was studied it indicates that DU may be a contributing factor to Gulf War Illness, something the MOD has consistently denied.

SOURCE: Military Medicine 2002;167:620-627

An abstract for this work can be found if you search at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Read more articles about The Gulf War Veterans