ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the conclusions of the Royal Society report and of two subsequent major studies that estimate intakes of depleted uranium (DU) in the Gulf War. It discusses the consequent risks to health and the available data on exposure levels derived from measuring the concentrations of DU in the urine of veterans from the several conflicts in which DU munitions have been used. The risks of exposure to DU are twofold. DU is weakly radioactive and a toxic heavy metal with its main effect on the kidney. The relative nature of the risk depends on the extent to which DU is retained in the body, providing a radiation risk, or is excreted through the kidney, increasing the risk of renal toxicity. The effects of exposure to DU can be assessed by long-term health surveillance of veterans and exposed populations, or by using modeling approaches to predict the health effects resulting from known intakes of DU.
