Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117964

Holly Coulon, BSN, College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, 851 S. Damen Ave., Chicago, IL 60612, 312-864-3555, hcoulo1@uic.edu, Richard David, MD, Neonatology, Stroger Hospital of Cook County, 1901 W. Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60612, and Douglas Rokke, PhD, U.S. Army, retired, 4433 S. Harlem Ave., Stickney, IL 60402.

Although the number of American battlefield casualties in Gulf War I was low, the proportion of surviving soldiers with adverse health effects exceeds all prior wars. Recurrent skin eruptions, headaches, myalgias and neuromotor abnormalities characterize Gulf War Syndrome. In addition, clusters of malignancies have been observed. Gulf War I saw the first use of projectiles made from depleted uranium (DU), a metal 1.7-time as dense as lead which is produced as a by-product of the uranium enrichment process. When a DU penetrator strikes a hardened object, it ignites, releasing uranium oxide in sub-micron-sized particles. These are easily transported by wind and inhaled into the lungs where they lodge in tissues and emit alpha particles indefinitely. We performed telephone follow-up interviews in 2005 with most of the survivors of a US Army unit assigned to battlefield clean-up operations in 1991. These personnel worked in close contact with highly contaminated wreckage of tanks and other vehicles which had been destroyed by DU munitions. In addition to the usual signs and symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome, we found a number of confirmed malignancies in our sample of fewer than 50, ~10% incidence. Most tumors involved the respiratory tract and lungs, and most were fatal. The overall mortality in this cohort has been much higher than the level anticipated on the basis of the age, sex and prior health status of the soldiers. Delayed mortality and morbidity among veterans surviving modern warfare may be mediated to a significant extent by depleted uranium.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn health effects of fine particulate DU
• Become familiar with emerging epidemiologic evidence linking DU exposure to illness.
• Recognize links between DU and Gulf War Syndrome

Keywords: Uranium, Veterans' Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.