New evidence from the Royal Society links Depleted Uranium (DU) to lung cancer after repeated denials by NATO
DEPLETED URANIUM: NEW DISCOVERIES
http://english.pravda.ru/world/2001/05/24/5810.html
New evidence from the Royal Society links Depleted Uranium (DU) to lung cancer after repeated denials by NATO.
After the discovery of cases of cancer in numerous soldiers and civilians who had been involved in areas in which DU weapons had been deployed by NATO aircraft (Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Kosovo), NATO has always refuted allegations that there is any connection. The London Royal Society reveals new evidence.
The Royal Society-s team of experts states that it is not scientifically proved that DU is inoffensive to the health and advises all soldiers who fought in the Gulf and Balkans Wars to give blood and urine samples for testing.
The Royal Society's report pointed out that although in general very low levels, if any, of DU were found in the majority of tests performed, it was also true that a reduced number of soldiers or civilians who had been in or near a tank during or immediately after an attack with such weapons faced an increased risk of developing lung cancer.
Professor Brian Spratt, of Imperial College, London, was one of the members who drew up the report. He stated that the survivors of a bombing raid in which DU weapons had been used, or those who went to help them, could have been exposed to high levels of radioactivity, which could duplicate the probability of developing cancer.
This type of exposure is called "Level 1 exposure". Statistical studies have shown that per 1,000 people exposed to maximum Level 1 exposure, 123 would be expected to die from various forms of cancer.
It is lamentable that NATO should continue to deny the existence of any link between DU and illnesses such as Gulf War Syndrome and Balkans Syndrome. The fact is that there is a direct link between DU and cancer and Pravda.Ru was one of the first newspapers to make this claim.
That soldiers should be exposed to extra dangers on the battlefield is to be regretted, that civilian areas should be subjected to toxic materials is criminal and constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity according to the Geneva Convention.
For this reason, those responsible for the deployment of DU weapons in areas where civilians were likely to go in the Persian Gulf and in the Balkans should be tried in their own court, in The Hague, for War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.
TIMOTHY BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
Informant: Noam Anderson
http://english.pravda.ru/world/2001/05/24/5810.html
New evidence from the Royal Society links Depleted Uranium (DU) to lung cancer after repeated denials by NATO.
After the discovery of cases of cancer in numerous soldiers and civilians who had been involved in areas in which DU weapons had been deployed by NATO aircraft (Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Kosovo), NATO has always refuted allegations that there is any connection. The London Royal Society reveals new evidence.
The Royal Society-s team of experts states that it is not scientifically proved that DU is inoffensive to the health and advises all soldiers who fought in the Gulf and Balkans Wars to give blood and urine samples for testing.
The Royal Society's report pointed out that although in general very low levels, if any, of DU were found in the majority of tests performed, it was also true that a reduced number of soldiers or civilians who had been in or near a tank during or immediately after an attack with such weapons faced an increased risk of developing lung cancer.
Professor Brian Spratt, of Imperial College, London, was one of the members who drew up the report. He stated that the survivors of a bombing raid in which DU weapons had been used, or those who went to help them, could have been exposed to high levels of radioactivity, which could duplicate the probability of developing cancer.
This type of exposure is called "Level 1 exposure". Statistical studies have shown that per 1,000 people exposed to maximum Level 1 exposure, 123 would be expected to die from various forms of cancer.
It is lamentable that NATO should continue to deny the existence of any link between DU and illnesses such as Gulf War Syndrome and Balkans Syndrome. The fact is that there is a direct link between DU and cancer and Pravda.Ru was one of the first newspapers to make this claim.
That soldiers should be exposed to extra dangers on the battlefield is to be regretted, that civilian areas should be subjected to toxic materials is criminal and constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity according to the Geneva Convention.
For this reason, those responsible for the deployment of DU weapons in areas where civilians were likely to go in the Persian Gulf and in the Balkans should be tried in their own court, in The Hague, for War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.
TIMOTHY BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
Informant: Noam Anderson
Starmail - 27. Sep, 14:46
