Follow up answer E-2883/07 (16 July 2007):

The Commission is of the opinion that it is for national health services to provide information and conduct health surveillance of the population.

Nevertheless in 2001 following the Balkan conflict the Commission itself asked for an independent scientific opinion from a group of experts (Article 31 Euratom).

Apart from the fact that DU does not respect national boundaries, national health services are often not aware of the use of DU, let alone the population and local and international military troops. Who (for instance in Iraq with 70 % of the soil contaminated) should inform whom?

The Commission is not aware of new findings that would change the opinion that other protective measures should be considered.

Has the Commission not taken into account the outcome of several studies⁽¹⁾ ordered by the EC and the WHO, that led to the conclusion that radiation from DU particles is a risk for the lungs and that the toxicity endangers the kidneys and other tissues?

Until now, to the Commission's knowledge no new evidence has emerged.

In order to have a clear, complete and reliable comprehension of the risks, one cannot only rely on the radiological aspects of DU. Account should also be taken of the fact that one in 50 DU-exposed veterans developed the very rare disease Hodgkin's lymphoma⁽²⁾. In 2002 a laboratory working for the Pentagon showed that DU's chemical toxicity could generate free radical damage to DNA bases, including lesions in the DNA. Using an insoluble DU compound, AFRRI revealed that DU caused ‘single-strand-DNA’ breaks in immortalised human cells⁽³⁾.

Why does the Commission not take evidence like this into consideration?

(1) Depleted Uranium: Sources, Exposure and Health Effects http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/pub_meet/ir_pubs/en/index.html (2) Utterance made by scientific team leader Dr Melissa McDiarmid during a meeting with Pentagon officials, see the original document: Memorandum for record, meeting of Oct. 15 Th 1999, http://doc.danfahey.com/DU-1999-lymphoma.pdf (3) Miller, A.C., et al.: Potential late health effects of depleted uranium and tungsten used in armor-piercing munitions: comparison of neoplastic transformation and genotoxicity with the known carcinogen nickel, in Military Medicine 167, February 2002, pp. 120-122; http://www.findarticles.com/particles/mi_qa3912/is_200202/ai_n9077795