Depleted Uranium and the Medical Mismanagement of Gulf War Veterans
by Paul Zimmerman
A dramatic increase in the number of babies born with birth defects
was recently reported by doctors working in Falluja, Iraq [1]. One
of the proposed causes for this alarming situation is radiation
exposure to the population produced by uranium weapons. The
international radiation protection community dismisses this
explanation as completely unreasonable because (1) the radiation
dose to the population of Iraq was too low, and (2) no evidence of
birth defects was reported among offspring born to survivors of the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This so-called scientific
explanation is deeply disturbing, for it is out of touch with the
current knowledge base. Abundant evidence exists which clearly
demonstrates that birth defects are being induced by levels of
radiation in the environment deemed safe by the radiation protection
community. In light of this knowledge, uranium contamination cannot
be summarily dismissed as a hazard to the unborn.
The
destruction of the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl produced a different
type of radiation exposure from that portrayed for the atomic bomb.
In Japan, victims were exposed to an instantaneous flash of gamma
radiation and neutrons delivered from outside their bodies. In
contrast, the Chernobyl accident scattered microscopic radioactive
particles from the reactor’s core throughout Europe which was then
inhaled and ingested by the populace. In this situation, those
contaminated began receiving ongoing, low-dose exposure
internally. According to the current theory of radiation effects
embraced by the radiation protection community, there is no
qualitative difference in the two types of exposure. What matters is
the total amount of energy delivered to the body. Thus, the health
effects experienced by the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki can
be considered to be representative of the health effects produced
from any type of radiation exposure. In the case of birth defects,
this assumption has been proven wrong. As a result of the external
exposure in Japan, there was no increase in the incidence of birth
defects among children whose parents were exposed to the bombings
[2]. In contrast, radiation-induced birth defects have been
documented in populations receiving low doses of internal
contamination. In light of this contradiction, it’s obvious that
the accepted theory of radiation effects is in error and needs to be
corrected. The information which follows will demonstrate the hazard
to the unborn produced by radioactive material vented into the
environment.
1. In the
book Chernobyl: 20 Years On, a chapter is devoted to
discussing the birth defects in children who, while gestating in the
wombs of their mothers, were exposed to radioactivity released by
the Chernobyl reactor [3]. The author provides an overview of dozens
of studies which confirm that low levels of radiation present in
many areas of Europe after Chernobyl were responsible for a wide
variety of birth defects. These birth defects occurred where
radiation exposure was judged by the radiation protection agencies
to be too low to warrant concern. Fifteen studies were cited which
demonstrated an increase in the incidence of a wide variety of
congenital malformations. Other studies cited confirmed increases in
the rate of stillbirths, infant deaths, spontaneous abortions, and
low birthweight babies. An elevated incidence of Down’s syndrome was
also documented. In addition, an excess of a variety of other health
defects were detected which included mental retardation and other
mental disorders, diseases of the respiratory and circulatory
systems, and asthma.
In a
separate chapter of the same book, Alexey Yablokov of the Russian
Academy of Sciences provided a review of the extensive body of
research conducted after Chernobyl. Regarding studies on birth
defects, he cited an increased frequency of a number of congenital
malformations which included cleft lip and/or palate (“hare lip”),
doubling of the kidneys, polydactyly (extra fingers or toes),
anomalies in the development of nervous and blood systems, amelia
(limb reduction defects), anencephaly (defective development of the
brain), spina bifida (incomplete closure of the spinal column),
Down’s syndrome, abnormal openings in the esophagus and anus, and
multiple malformations occurring simultaneously [4].
2. The
wide range of birth defects produced by the Chernobyl accident
cannot be accounted for by the data collected from the survivors of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This is one compelling thread of evidence
that something is amiss in the current field of radiation
protection. But there is a further problem. The proposed threshold
dose of radiation capable of interfering with the development of a
fetus, again based on the research from Japan, is between fifty and
one hundred times greater than what the radiation protection
community insists was the typical exposure in the areas of Europe
where the elevated frequency of birth defects was documented. How
are we to make sense of these contradictions? Chromosome studies
conducted in the contaminated regions provide the answer.
In
individuals exposed to ionizing radiation, peripheral lymphocytes,
those lymphocytes which circulate in the blood, have an elevated
occurrence of certain types of misshapen chromosomes [3,5]. Of
particular interest are dicentric chromosomes which are produced
when radiation breaks both strands of the DNA double helix in two
neighboring chromosomes and the genetic material is then misrepaired.
An increase in the relative frequency of these aberrantly shaped
structures serve as a biological indicator of radiation exposure
which is immune to lies and political propaganda. More
specifically, the increased rate of these aberrations is
proportional to the dose of radiation received. Thus, their
frequency can be used to determine the true level of exposure in
contaminated individuals. Studies of this type were conducted in
Europe subsequent to the Chernobyl accident [3]. These studies
demonstrated that the official dose estimates published by the
radiation protection agencies were woefully in error, greatly
underestimating the true level of exposure of people throughout
Europe. This discrepancy casts further doubt on the scientific
integrity of those organizations who are supposedly protecting the
world from radioactive pollution. When combining the studies of
chromosome aberrations with the studies of birth defects, the
science speaks for itself: the population in many areas of Europe
received much higher doses from Chernobyl than claimed and birth
defects were induced by much smaller doses than suggested by current
radiation protection science.
3. As the
clouds of fallout from Chernobyl wafted around the planet,
governments broadcast reassurances to their anxious citizens that
there was no cause for concern, that doses to the public would be
too low to produce detrimental health effects. Politically
motivated, this advice was medically ill-conceived. What became
evident after the accident was that children who received exposure
to Chernobyl fallout, while still in the wombs of their mothers,
experienced an elevated risk of developing leukemia by the time of
their first birthday [6,7]. Relevant to this discussion is the fact
that a gene mutation occurring in utero is one cause of
infant leukemia [8,9].) In countries where unimpeachable data was
collected for levels of fallout deposited in the environment, doses
to the population, and the incidence of childhood leukemia, an
unmistakable, uniform trend emerged: the studied population of
children born during the 18-month period following the accident
suffered increased rates of leukemia in their first year of life
compared to children born prior to the accident or to those born
subsequent to the accident after the level of possible maternal
contamination had sufficiently diminished. This was confirmed in
five separate studies conducted independently of one another: in
Greece [9], Germany [10], Scotland [11], the United States [12], and
Wales [13]. Again here is evidence that defects are being induced in
fetuses that we are told by the radiation protection community are
not possible. According to the European Committee on Radiation Risk
(ECRR), these results provide unequivocal evidence that the risk
model of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)
for infant leukemia is in error by a factor of between 100-fold and
2000-fold, the latter figure allowing for a continued excess
incidence of leukemia as the population of children studied
continues to age [6].
4. Other
types of chromosome studies have been performed which demonstrate
that radiation in the environment is producing damage to DNA that is
being passed on to offspring. Minisatellites are identical short
segments of DNA that repeat over and over again in a long array
along a chromosome. These stretches of DNA do not code for the
formation of any protein. What distinguishes these minisatellites is
that they acquire spontaneous repeats through mutation at a known
rate, which is 1,000 times higher than normal protein-coding genes.
Dr. Yuri Dubrova, currently at the University of Leicester, first
realized that these stretches of DNA could be used to detect
radiation-induced genetic mutations by showing that their known rate
of mutation had increased subsequent to exposure. Dubrova and his
colleagues studied the rate of minisatellite mutations in families
that had lived in the heavily polluted rural areas of the Mogilev
district of Belarus after the Chernobyl meltdown [14]. They found
the frequency of mutations being passed on by males to their
descendants was nearly twice as high in the exposed families
compared to the control group families. Among those exposed, the
mutation rate was significantly greater in families with a higher
parental dose. This finding was consistent with the hypothesis that
radiation had induced mutations in the the reproductive germ cells
of parents and then transmitted to their offspring. This was the
first conclusive proof that radiation produced inheritable mutations
in humans.
Minisatellite DNA testing has also been performed on the children of
Chernobyl “liquidators” i.e., those people who participated in
post-accident cleanup operations. When the offspring of liquidators
born after the accident were compared to their siblings born prior
to the accident, a sevenfold increase in genetic damage was observed
[15,16]. As reported by the ECRR, “for the loci measured, this
finding defined an error of between 700-fold and 2,000-fold in the
ICRP model for heritable genetic damage” [6]. The ECRR made this
further observation: “It is remarkable that studies of the children
of those exposed to external radiation at Hiroshima show little or
no such effect, suggesting a fundamental difference in mechanism
between the exposures [17]. The most likely difference is that
it was the internal exposure to the Chernobyl liquidators that
caused the effects”.
5. In
November 2009, Joseph Mangano of the Radiation and Public Health
Project published a study of newborn hypothyroidism near the Indian
Point nuclear reactors in Buchanan, New York [13]. Hypothyroidism is
a disease characterized by an insufficient production of the hormone
thyroxine. One cause of the disease is exposure to radioactive
iodine which selectively destroys cells in the thyroid gland.
Currently, the only environmental source of radioactive iodine is
emissions from nuclear power plants. According to Mangano, four
counties in New York state flank Indian Point and nearly all the
residents of these counties live within 20 miles of the reactor
complex. During the period 1997 to 2007, the rate of newborn
hypothyroidism in the combined four-county population was 92.4%
greater, or nearly double, the U.S. rate. The rate in each of the
four counties separately was above the U.S. rate, and in two of the
counties, the rate was more than double the national rate. In the
period 2005-2007, the four county rate was 151.4% above the national
rate. These finding were consistent with the fact that the local
rate of thyroid cancer is 66% greater than the U.S. rate [14].
Mangano’s
study raises important questions regarding our common welfare. We
live with assurances by government and industry that nuclear
reactors are operating within guidelines sponsored by the radiation
protection agencies. What radiation they emit are dismissed as too
low to warrant concern. An yet, babies born to mothers living in
proximity to Indian Point are suffering an increased rate of
hypothyroidism. Either the reactor complex is emitting more
radiation than publicly known, or once again, there is an error in
the safety standards published by the radiation protection
community.
6. Are
weapons containing depleted uranium a cause for concern for
producing birth defects? Given that uranium inside the human body
targets the reproductive system, the elevated rate of birth defects
in Iraq strongly suggests that DU exposure is involved. In
experimental animals exposed to uranium compounds, uranium has been
found to accumulate in the testes [20]. Among Gulf War veterans
wounded by DU shrapnel, elevated levels of uranium have been found
in their semen [21]. In light of this discovery, the Royal Society
cautions that this raises “the possibility of adverse effects on the
sperm from either the alpha-particles emanating from DU, chemical
effects of uranium on the genetic material or the chemical toxicity
of uranium [21].” In experiments on female rats, uranium was found
to cross the placenta and become concentrated in the tissues of the
fetus [20,21,22]. When DU pellets were implanted into pregnant
female rats, a direct relation was observed between the amount of
contamination in the mother and the amount of contamination in the
placenta and the fetus [23,24]. Most importantly, once dissolved
within the body, uranium’s primary chemical form is the uranyl ion
UO2++. This
form of uranium has an affinity for DNA and binds strongly to it [25].
This fact alone is should be sufficient to halt the scattering of DU
aerosols amidst populations. Internalized uranium targets human
genetic material! Needless to say, this fact is totally ignored by
the International Commission on Radiological Protection and related
organizations when determining safe levels of exposure to uranium
and assessing the risk posed by uranium for inducing birth defects.
7. In
infants, hydrocephalus is a condition characterized by increased
head size and atrophy of the brain. The frequency of this birth
defect has increased dramatically in Iraq since the first Gulf War
[26]. A small and admittedly incomplete study conducted in the
United States lends credence to the hypothesis that DU exposure is
the causative agent [26]. Rural and sparsely populated Socorro
County is located downwind of a DU-weapons testing site, the
Terminal Effects Research and Analysis division of the New Mexico
Institute of Mining and Technology. On average, 250 births occur
yearly in the county. An investigation by a community activist
revealed that between 1984 and 1986, five infants were born with
hydrocephalus. (The normal rate of hydrocephalus is one case in
every 500 live births). According to the demonstrably incomplete
State of New Mexico’s passive birth defects registry, between 1984
and 1988, 19 infants were born statewide with the condition, three
of these within Socorro county. Regardless of which accounting is
correct, the results are disturbing given that Socorro contains less
than 1% of the state’s population.
8. To
conclude, the current dogma regarding radiation effects cannot
account for the increase in genetic malformations in populations
exposed internally to low levels of radiation. Something is deeply
wrong with the current science of radiation safety. Given this,
statements by the radiation protection community regarding the
impossibility that low levels of uranium can cause birth defects are
suspect. Numerous studies demonstrate that uranium produces a wide
range of birth defects in experimental animals [20,26]. Further,
numerous in vitro and in vivo studies conducted in the
last twenty years have proven that uranium is genotoxic (capable of
damaging DNA), cytotoxic (poisonous to cells), and mutagenic
(capable of inducing mutations) [27]. These effects are produced
either by uranium’s radioactivity or its chemistry or a synergistic
interaction between the two. These findings lend plausibility to the
idea that the observed increased incidence of deformed babies in
Iraq is related to depleted uranium munitions [26].
Paul
Zimmerman is the author of A Primer in the Art of Deception: The
Cult of Nuclearists, Uranium Weapons and Fraudulent Science. A
more technical, fully referenced presentation of the ideas presented
in this article can be found within its pages. Excerpts, free to
download, are available at www.du-deceptions.com.
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