Re: The DU disaster now a danger to the UK

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 07:21:57 -0800, Mel Rowing wrote:

oppenheimers ghost wrote:
On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 02:32:54 -0800, Mel Rowing wrote:


...... every time I inhale. Atmospheric dust comes from soil. Where
else could it come from? Furthmore the vegetables I eat were grown in
this very same soil. The meat I eat is from animals that consumed
vegetation grown in that very same soil.

Of course these sources exist and they cause cancer too. So?

Because when it boils down we are considering risk. Risk can only be
identified when it can be measured. The risk you describe even if I
accept your scenario, which I don't, is the risk associated with the
distribution of 2000 tonnes of DU across an area that approximates at
least to the size of Europe. Such a scenario would have insignificant
effect either on background radiation or the indigenous quantities of
uranium present in European soils.

Ingested uranium is mostly excreted and under ordinary circumstances very
little is inhaled.

The DU released in Iraq, the Balkans and Afghanistan is AIRBORNE and those
people affected have inhaled millions of paticles of DU oxide.

To get an equivalent dose from out of the ground of natural uranium you'd
have to inhale massive quantities of earth. There aren't pitcheblend mines
everywhere you know, the average concentration of natural uranium is
really quite low at
25Bq/Kg
your looking at about a milligram or 2 for every kilogram of soil.
How much is inhaled depends on how the uranium is locked into the ground
and on it's distribution. Perhaps uranium in the ground IS a hazard too.
Having natural uranium in the ground doesn'tchange the principle fact that
Airborne DU is a hazard.

Europe is just over 4m sq. miles in area. Thus 2000 tonnes would equate
to a distribution of 500g per sq mile set against the 2.2 tonnes that

it could be 4,000 tons.

is already there. Bring other radioactive nuclides into consideration
and the significance of the added uranium is reduced further still.

You cant reduce the risk of the du like that. If anything snorting a Kg
of soil from deepest derbyshire is going to give you a nasty dose of du
if you don't die from something else first.

Perhaps you should calculate how long it will take to safely inhale
(irrespective of the uranium) enough soil to deliver a milligram of
uranium particulates into your lungs.

Remember nanogramm sized DU oxide particles have been inhaled by the
millions resulting in doses at the milligram level to the lung.

Until you actually do some science I will not reply further to your
messages Mel.

There are now more and larger risks in some cases to consider. One
being DU oxide depending on your exposure to it.

Your first statement was derogatory so how may you be asking me again?
Just to inform any readers here goes, I'll discuss plutonium first.

Ok, the soil is now contaminated with plutonium which it never was
prior to atmospheric testing in the 50's.

That's because plutonium is an artificial element that didn't exist
prior to 1945.

It is in fact a fissile material used in nuclear weapons. There is no
nuclear fission involved in the explosion of a DU shell and no plutonium
is involved so why throw in red herrings?

And I didn't like the tone of your voice ok?

I'm not arguing with you until you can tell me how long it takes to
snort a kilogram of soil during the normal course of living.

<snipped the rest>

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The DU disaster now a danger to the UK
    ... vegetation grown in that very same soil. ... Of course these sources exist and they cause cancer too. ... and the significance of the added uranium is reduced further still. ... It is in fact a fissile material used in nuclear weapons. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • Re: Depleted Uranium
    ... There is NO controversy at all about the toxicity of soluble uranium ... all isotopes) is a heavy-metal ... Uranium in soil: Toxicity depends on the degree of oxidation; ...
    (sci.physics.research)
  • Re: WHICH SCIENCE OR SCIENTISTS CAN YOU TRUST?
    ... >>IIRC it's about 2ppm of soil, and I think it was per sq mile, not sq ... an abundance of 12 parts per million in the Earth's crust. ... Three isotopes of uranium are found in nature. ...
    (sci.chem)
  • NPA reports on withheld MRSA test results for British pigs
    ... I'm pretty sure that is not exactly what the Soil ... The reality is that all live imports are a risk. ... We know that British pigs do have MRSA and that they have had MRSA for ... Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now! ...
    (uk.business.agriculture)
  • Re: OT: Closing Gitmo
    ... Getting these guys onto US soil is exactly what needs to happen right now. ... US maximum security prisons house serial killers and every other form of monster, do you think that untried terror suspects will be more of a risk? ... The era of rage and retribution is being replaced by the era of justice and diplomacy. ...
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