By Rosalie Bertell

I found a source of information on DU which will be helpful to anyone who testifies on the subject at the Senate Hearings. It is the Third (Revised) Edition of the Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety, Technical Editor: Dr. Luigi Parmeggiani, published by the International Labour Organization in 1983 (ISBN: 92-2-103289-2) Geneva, Switzerland.

In Volume 2 under uranium alloys and compounds, page 2238, it reads:

“Uranium poisoning is characterized by generalized health impairment. The element and its compounds produce changes in the kidneys, liver, lungs and cardiovascular, nervous and haemopoietic systems, and cause disorders of protein and carbohydrate metabolism….Chronic poisoning results from prolonged exposure to low concentrations of insoluble compounds and presents a clinical picture different from that of acute poisoning. The outstanding signs and symptoms are pulmonary fibrosis, pneumoconiosis, and blood changes with a fall in red blood count; haemoglobin, erythrocyte and reticulocyte levels in the peripheral blood are reduced. Leucopenia may be observed with leucocyte disorders (cytolysis, pyknosis, and hypersegmentosis). There may be damage to the nervous system. Morphological changes in the lungs, liver, spleen, intestines and other organs and tissues may be found, and it is reported that uranium exposure inhibits reproductive activity and affects uterine and extra-uterine development in experimental animals. Insoluble compounds tend to be retained in tissues and organs for long periods.”

There is more to the article, which you may want to obtain. However it is the most explicit report I have seen, and I find it remarkable for its 1983 copyright, when no one was accepting such data because of the military “need” for uranium!