I don't know. In addition to the 1,850 personnel who went to the Persian Gulf to fight the war, hundreds of other Canadian troops went to the area after hostilities were over to assist in the cleanup. Chamberlain, who inspected Iraqi tanks the allied coalition forces destroyed with DU-tipped ammunition, has never asked to be tested for signs of depleted uranium because he sees no threat. If you did pick up a depleted uranium rod and sucked on it, handled it, you're not going to get contaminated. So far, Canada's Defence Minister Art Eggleton has said that voluntary testing is adequate.
Critics argue that the Canadian government is downplaying the health risk to military personnel.
They say that voluntary testing isn't enough, because many who served aren't aware the tests are available. The Defence Department recently said that of the thousands of troops who served in the Balkans and the Gulf during the last decade, only 104 have asked to be tested. Those independent tests, which involved 59 Gulf War vets and 45 who served in the former Yugoslavia, have failed to show any link between depleted uranium and illness. However, the organization plans to set up an action plan to deal with the fears expressed in many European countries about possible health risks. The European Union has launched its own inquiry into whether DU exposure poses a risk to its troops.