The main risk from depleted uranium is chemical poisoning from uranium oxide (U-238 is only weakly radioactive). It is a heavy metal and any inhalation of such things is adverse to health. A battlefield is a playground for all kinds of toxic compounds resulting from detonations and fires. (One of our first jobs on the ROLAND 2 propulsion unit was to eliminate asbestos from the combustion chamber liners.)
Everyone likes to blame cancers and birth defects on radioactive materials. The question is whether there is any causality truly at work. A battlefield is also littered with copper-based shell casings with propellant residue, which corrode and get into the surface water. Has anyone done a study of those effects? There are more important things to worry about than depleted uranium---like who prevails in the conflict.
You have some very good points here, there may be worse pollution than DU in battlefields.
I still think DU needs to be banned from military use, even if it's main toxicity is chemical.
IMO the Russians would not use depleted uranium in their own armour. They have some scruples.
...sadly true...
Why would you think metallurgy is a matter of scruples?
Because depleted uranium causes radioactive pollution when it catches fire.
The US used depleted uranium rounds in iraq an Serbia and now there are cancers and birth defects.
The main risk from depleted uranium is chemical poisoning from uranium oxide (U-238 is only weakly radioactive). It is a heavy metal and any inhalation of such things is adverse to health. A battlefield is a playground for all kinds of toxic compounds resulting from detonations and fires. (One of our first jobs on the ROLAND 2 propulsion unit was to eliminate asbestos from the combustion chamber liners.)
Everyone likes to blame cancers and birth defects on radioactive materials. The question is whether there is any causality truly at work. A battlefield is also littered with copper-based shell casings with propellant residue, which corrode and get into the surface water. Has anyone done a study of those effects? There are more important things to worry about than depleted uranium---like who prevails in the conflict.
You have some very good points here, there may be worse pollution than DU in battlefields. I still think DU needs to be banned from military use, even if it's main toxicity is chemical.