US and UK Ignored DU Cancer Risk

The U.S. and UK continued to use depleted uranium munitions in Iraq despite warnings that they cause cancer, a BBC investigation concluded.

UN scientists have pointed to the health implications of using depleted uranium in Iraq, where the weapons were used in the 1991 and 2003 wars.

Depleted uranium (DU), which is used for armor-piercing bullets or shells, is an extremely dense and hard metal that can cause chemical poisoning to the body, according to the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium Web site.

Fears over the DU's health implications prompted a study by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2001, which said that the weapons pose only a small contamination risk.

But a top UN scientist told the BBC Radio Four's Today program that evidence showing that depleted uranium could cause cancer was withheld.

(Full article at: http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_id=12149