- Simple exposure to unfired DU weapons can contaminate.
Another myth is that simple exposure to unfired anti-tank shells and bunker-buster bombs will not result in radioactive contamination.
In the video, Beyond Treason, Lt. Col. John Karl Marks, 303rd Fighter Squadron, offers this view: there is “a very minor amount of radioactivity [in an unfired shell], but it’s not anything. … As long as it’s in its bullet form it can be stored and it’s not any type of hazardous material.” (14)
But in fact, according to Dr. Moret, many veterans have been reporting illnesses through proximity to unfired shells and bombs. For instance, gunners in Bradley vehicles who sat on boxes of DU shells are now reporting rectal cancer. (15)
- There is no safe-exposure limit to DU.
A third myth is that there is a threshold, a safe-exposure limit, below which one can contact DU and not suffer. This too is in fact not true.
According to Dr. Moret, “the amount necessary to cause death to a person inhaling the material is extremely small.” “It is estimated that one millionth of a gram accumulating in a person's body would be fatal.” (16)
Dr. Moret points to National Academy of Sciences studies that indicate there is "no safe level of exposure" for DU. (17)
- DU infects spouses/mothers through semen transfer and family members through contact with contaminated objects.
According to Dr. Moret, because a soldier’s semen is contaminated from DU particles, when he returns home he can contaminate his wife or partner. (18) Whole families can be affected. Staff Sergeant Bob Jones, a former Army Ranger and veteran of Desert Storm, is now retired and disabled due to Gulf War Illness. Not only is he ill, but his entire immediate family all suffer from mycoplasma fermentans incognitos. (19)
The manner in which they were treated by the Veterans Administration should also be noted. “It wasn’t so much my illness, but my family was also ill and they required medical attention and medical treatment – real medical treatment. I retired in June of last year – June 2003. As soon as I retired my family was completely dropped from the military medical system. … Although I begged and pleaded they would not let my family re-enroll back into the Womack Family Practice.
“So in essence, my wife was completely cut off from all the medications and all the treatment that she had received for the past seven years. … – Cause she was also a victim of these exposures that I brought home from the Gulf War – from my equipment and my personal exposure, as I alluded to earlier – from personal bodily contact… and that to me is the greatest travesty. I just can’t imagine how … you have innocent family members and loved ones that never put their hand up and swore allegiance to fight and defend the constitution of the United States and they get kicked to the curb and nobody cares.” (20)
- DU leads to horrible birth defects in babies.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
