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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 DoD, VA, and Service-Specific DU Points of Contact (POCs) and DU Consultation and Archiving Information,
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
Other DU-Related Information
- Technical Reports
- United Nations General Assembly, Report of the Secretary-General, Effects of the Use of Armaments and Ammunitions Containing Depleted Uranium (Report
contains the views of Member States and relevant international organizations on the effects of the use of armaments and ammunitions containing depleted uranium.)
- Pentagon Channel Video, DOD Lab Analyzes Fragments Embedded in Wounded Warriors, 20 Apr 12 (Joint Pathology Center's Biophysical Toxicology and Depleted Uranium/Embedded Metal Fragment Laboratory)
- Laboratory Analyzes Shrapnel to Look for Uranium, American Forces Press Service, 19 Apr 12
- 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
Education and Training
- VA Conference, Depleted Uranium and Toxic Embedded Fragment Surveillance Programs Update Presentation, Aug 11
- Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) Depleted Uranium Symposium Presentations, 4 Nov 10
- Force Health Protection Conference, Soldier Exposure to Depleted Uranium and Human Health Risk Assessment Methodology Presentation, Aug 09
- 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
Research
- Longitudinal Health Surveillance in a Cohort of Gulf War Veterans 18 Years After First Exposure to Depleted Uranium, J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2011 Jan;74(10):678-91 Abstract (Report of ongoing surveillance of Gulf War Veterans exposed to depleted uranium (DU). Eighteen years after first exposure, members of this cohort with DU fragments continue to excrete elevated concentrations of Uranium in their urine, however, no significant evidence of clinically important changes was observed in kidney or bone, the two principal target organs of Uranium.)
- Measures of Genotoxicity in Gulf War I Veterans Exposed to Depleted Uranium Abstract, Environ Mol Mutagen. 4 Jul 11
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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)
- Force Health Protection and Readiness (FHP&R) Health Affairs, DeployMed Research LINK – Depleted Uranium
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