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Table of Contents
Depleted Uranium, or DU, is a very dense metal used by the military to strengthen special armor on tanks and other equipment and to make armor-piercing munitions. DU is a by-product of the naturally occurring heavy metal uranium, when it is enriched to make nuclear reactor fuel or nuclear weapons. Because DU has had much of its radioactive component removed, it is 40 percent less radioactive than naturally occurring uranium.
The Department of Defense (DoD) maintains a medical screening program to track servicemembers who may have been exposed to DU. It is part of DoD's overall surveillance program for servicemembers when they return from deployment and is a continuation of the DoD program that was begun during the 1st Gulf War. The main policies for the program are HA (Health Affairs) Policy 03-012 and HA Policy 04-004 which provide guidance on when and how the military services will test personnel for potential DU exposure.The DoD Policy calls for offering referral to all service members who have embedded DU fragments or other evidence of DU exposure found during testing to the VA's DU Follow-Up Program. The VA's program was developed in 1993 for ongoing monitoring of exposed servicemembers in order to identify any long-term implications of DU exposure.
For list of Service-Specific DU Points of Contact (POCs), click here.
Policies and Directives
DoD / Joint Forces
VA (Department of Veterans Affairs)
Army
Air Force
Navy / Marines
Clinical Guidance
Forms and Measures
Fact Sheets
- Depleted Uranium Information for Clinicians, 3 Nov 06
- Depleted Uranium Information for Service Members and Their Families, 3 Nov 06
- U.S. Army Capstone Depleted Uranium Aerosols Study & Human Health Risk Assessment For Service Members and Their Families, 10 Mar 05
- VA War-Related Injury and Illness Study Center, Information on Depleted Uranium (DU), A Resource for Service Members and Their Families
- USACHPPM Just the Facts Depleted Uranium (DU) Urine Bioassay and Fragment Analysis Programs and the USACHPPM Laboratory Quality System, Apr 06
- Health Physics Society Depleted Uranium Fact Sheet, Aug 05
- USACHPPM Urine Testing for Depleted Uranium, May 04
- USACHPPM Just the Facts Depleted Uranium - Individual Fact Sheet, May 03
- USACHPPM Just the Facts Depleted Uranium - Medical Fact Sheet, May 03
- IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), Depleted Uranium Questions and Answers
- WHO (World Health Organization) Depleted Uranium Fact Sheet, Jan 03
- VA Depleted Uranium - FAQ Sheet, Jan 02
- NEHC DU Poster, Jan 03
Other DU-Related Information
- DoD DU Program Reports
- ASD(HA) Memorandum, Operation Iraqi Freedom Depleted Uranium Bioassay Results - Eighth Semi-Annual Report and Request for Data Submission for Ninth Semiannual Report, 28 Feb 08
- ASD(HA) Memorandum, Operation Iraqi Freedom Depleted Uranium Bioassay Results - Sixth Semi-Annual Report and Request for Data Submission, 5 Feb 07
- ASD(HA) Memorandum, Operation Iraqi Freedom Depleted Uranium Bioassay Results - Fifth Semi-Annual Report and Request for Data Submission, 20 Jun 06
- ASD(HA) Memorandum, Operation Iraqi Freedom Depleted Uranium Bioassay Results - Fourth Semi-Annual Report and Request for Data Submission, 27 Feb 06
- ASD(HA) Memorandum, Operation Iraqi Freedom Depleted Uranium Bioassay Results and Semi-Annual Data Submission, 28 Jul 2005
- ASD(HA) Memorandum, Operation Iraqi Freedom Depleted Uranium Bioassay Results and Semi-Annual Data Submission, 14 Feb 05
- ASD(HA) Memorandum, Operation Iraqi Freedom Depleted Uranium Bioassay Results and Semi-Annual Data Submission, 10 Sep 04
- FHP&R Magazine Special Issue 2008 Article, Let's talk about Depleted Uranium and Exposure Testing (page 12)
- FHP&R Magazine Summer 2007 Article, Depleted Uranium - A Hard Look at the Facts
- MIT Conference, Depleted Uranium Weapons: Toxic Contaminant or Necessary Technology? 6 Mar 04
- Bosnia Deployments Environmental Exposures - Depleted Uranium Web Page
- Gulf War Deployments Environmental Exposures - Depleted Uranium Web Page
- ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) Toxicologic Profile for Uranium, Sep 99
Education and Training
- Force Health Protection Conference, Depleted Uranium (DU) Medical Management Presentation, 11 Aug 05
- Deployment Health Clinical Training Series, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Management of Depleted Uranium, 27 Jan 04
- CENTAF Depleted Uranium Brief, 18 Sep 03
- DoD, Deployment Health Clinical Center, Deployment Health Guest Lecturer Program, Depleted Uranium, 17 Oct 03
- AMC (Army Material Command)/DHSD(Deployment Health Support Directorate) Depleted Uranium Briefing, 14 Mar 03
- FHP&R DU Training Page
Research
- Biological Monitoring for Depleted Uranium Exposure in U.S. Veterans, Environmental Health Perspectives,Vol 117, No. 6, Jun 09
- Depleted Uranium Analysis in Blood by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry Abstract, Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Vol 24, pages 189-193, 2009
- The CAPSTONE Depleted Uranium Aerosol Characterization and Risk Assessment Study, Health Physics Vol 96 No 3, Mar 09
- Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A VOL 72 NO 1, Jan 2009, (Abstract) Surveillance Results of Depleted Uranium-Exposed Gulf War I Veterans: Sixteen Years of Follow-Up, McDiarmid et al.
- US Army Acquisition Support Center Article, ERDC Research Proves DNA Enzyme Sensors for Uranium and Lead Real-Time Detection, Jun 08
- Institute of Medicine, Gulf War and Health Report: Updated Literature Review of Depleted Uranium, 30 Jul 08
- Institute of Medicine, Epidemiologic Studies of Veterans Exposed to Depleted Uranium: Feasibility and Design Issues, 30 Jul 08
- National Research Council of the National Academies Review of Toxicologic and Radiologic Risks to Military Personnel from Exposure to Depleted Uranium During and After Combat, 2008
- Health Physics VOL 93 NO 1, July 2007, Health Surveillance of Gulf War I Veterans Exposed to Depleted Uranium: Updating the Cohort, McDiarmid et al
- Occup Environ Med 2007, Urinary Isotopic Analysis in the UK Armed Forces: No Evidence of Depleted Uranium Absorption in Combat and Other Personnel in Iraq, 25 Jun 07
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Depleted Uranium Exposure and Health Effects in Gulf War Veterans, Squibb and McDiarmid, 24 Mar 06
- Int Arch Occup Environ Health (2005), Biological Monitoring and Surveillance Results of Gulf War I Veterans Exposed to Depleted Uranium, McDiarmid et al
- Capstone Report, Depleted Uranium Aerosol Doses and Risks Oct 04
- Military Medicine,169,3:212-216, Chemical and Radiological Toxicity of Depleted Uranium, Sztajnkrycer and Otten, March 2004
- Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A VOL 67 NO 4, Jun 2004, Health Effects of Depleted Uranium on Exposed Gulf War Veterans: A 10-Year Follow-Up, McDiarmid et al.
- DHSD DeployMed Research/LINK - Depleted Uranium
- Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 64 (2003) - Special DU Issue
- The United Kingdom Royal Society, The Health Hazards of Depleted Uranium Munitions - Part I (May 2001) and Part II (Mar 2002)
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