Depleted uranium

Today I received a scary e-mail message about depleted uranium from info@gravel2008.us. It should have read "misinfo@gravel2008.us." In a nation of scientific illiterates, it's easy to frighten people by invoking the spectre of radiation -- the invisible cause of cancer, deadly component of fallout, slayer of the innocent in Hiroshima and Chernobyl. Americans already believe that they can get cancer from electrical transmission lines and cell phones. Say the word "radiation" and they call their doctor to make an appointment; say "uranium" and they jump as if they've heard a bomb exploding.

But 11,000 dead? 11,000, and never a single autopsy report giving the cause of death as radiation poisoning? Uranium is not highly toxic and uranium poisoning is readily detectable, as you can easily find out by reading Glen Lawrence's actual account of the health risks of uranium, http://myweb.brooklyn.liu.edu/lawrence/duproject/du_health.pdf, to which the scary message links. (Too bad that whoever sent that message didn't read it.)

Depleted uranium is called "depleted" because the U-235 -- the stuff used in nuclear weapons and as fuel in reactors -- has been taken out. So depleted uranium can't explode.The U-238 that's left is one-fifth as radioactive, ounce for ounce, as U-235, but the radiation from depleted uranium is essentially the same as that of naturally occurring uranium, because natural uranium contains only a trace of U-235.

But that radiation level is low. It's not some kind of basilisk that kills you if you just look at it. You can handle the stuff, make jewelry out of it, even wear uranium-lined underpants without harming yourself or your progeny. Yes, it's bad for you if you eat it or breathe it. It's poisonous because the body can't readily get rid of it.  Most other heavy metals are poisonous for the same reason. Nevertheless, we live in daily external contact with them and never give them a thought. ("Don't open up your computer -- it's full of components containing toxic metals!" "Silver jewelry and silver cutlery will give you argyria!" "Don't touch that chrome-plated bathroom fixture -- hexavalent chromium causes cancer! ")

The claim that depleted uranium has killed thousands of Americans is fraudulent. Spreadng it, giving it credibility by attaching Mike Gravel's name to it, does a disservice both to Americans and to Mike.