Cancer and birth defects in Iraq: The nuclear legacy

[bananas]

Source: Medical Xpress

Ten years after the Iraq war of 2003 a team of scientists based in Mosul, northern Iraq, have detected high levels of uranium contamination in soil samples at three sites in the province of Nineveh which, coupled with dramatically increasing rates of childhood cancers and birth defects at local hospitals, highlight the ongoing legacy of modern warfare to civilians in conflict zones.

<snip>

Their report "Environmental pollution by depleted uranium in Iraq with special reference to Mosul and possible effects on cancer and birth defect rates" begins with a literature review that collates health-related data from a range of sources, including a report by the WHO (in 2003), which states that childhood cancers – particularly leukaemia – are ten times higher in Iraq than in other industrialised countries.

Although there is already significant evidence of cancers and related illnesses in adults (particularly war veterans), the authors emphasise that it is the dramatic rise in the incidence of cancer and birth defects in children under 15 years of age since the second Gulf War that points to the terrible legacy of DU weaponry. Childhood cancers are now some five times higher than before the two Gulf Wars (currently around 22 children per 100,000, compared with approximately 4 children per 100,000 in 1990).

The focal point of their scientific study was three sites near Mosul: Adayah, a landfill for radioactive waste; Rihanyah, a former research centre for nuclear munitions (disused since 1991); and Damerchy, a small village on the Tigris River (about 10km north of Mosel), which was a scene of fighting in the 2003 conflict. Particularly high levels of uranium were found at Rihanyah where storage ponds of liquid and solid waste from uranium processing are still a source of radioactive pollution. The accumulation of uranium in wild plants (principally the shrub Lagonychium farctum) was noted in Damerchy, where it is thought to have entered the food chain and is linked to the death of numerous head of cattle.

<snip>

Read more: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-cancer-birth-defects-iraq-nuclear.html

[think]

1. Depleted Uranium.....

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. for years Depleted uranium was considered a woo woo topic

at worst, or a 'safe' material to use in waging war, at best.

Now people are waking up to the danger of it.

[ManiacJoe]

2. Radiation vs heavy metal

Is the article focusing on the correct issue regarding depleted uranium?

[bananas]

3. The paper is free access

why don't you read it and tell us what you think?
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13623699.2013.765173

[ManiacJoe]

6. Thanks for the link.

I missed that on the first read.

[madrchsod]

4. history will judge us .

will our coiuntry go down in history as one of the worst mass murders?

i think the historians will.