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Year:
2001
| Volume: 9
| Issue: 4
| Pages: 237-240
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Original Article |
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EARLY RESULTS OF STUDIES ON THE LEVELS OF DEPLETED URANIUM EXCRETED BY BALKAN RESIDENTS
Nick D. PRIEST, M. THIRLWALL |
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DOI:
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Abstract: |
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Urine samples collected from residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo were analysed to determine their natural and depleted uranium content using MC-ICP-MS. All may have been exposed to depleted uranium released as a consequence of the deployment of armour-piercing rounds by the US Air Force. A 236U tracer was employed to determine chemical recovery. Early results suggest that the levels of natural and depleted uranium excretion by the subjects, which ranged in age from 1 to 71 years, ranged from 2.8 - 58.2 ng/d and 1.3 - 46.3 ng/d, respectively. The results suggest accumulated body burdens of depleted uranium ranging from close to zero to 46 mg. All the body burdens predicted are lower than published values for the uranium content of the body (90 mg) and health effects are not predicted. Further studies are underway to check the provenance of the results. |
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Key words:
Uranium; Urine; Body Burden; Analysis; Bosnia-Herzegovina; Yugoslavia |
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