It has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Upon impact a target, an airborne radioactive dust is created that can be toxic in humans if inhaled or ingested. The Pentagon has acknowledged that thousands of U.S. soldiers were unnecessarily exposed to DU, but denies that is the cause of Gulf War Illness. Gen. Charles Wald, who is the Joint Chiefs' vice director for strategic plans and policy, acknowledged Monday that 30mm depleted uranium rounds were in fact being fired by A-10 aircraft against Yugoslav forces. But Wald played down the health consequences of using the rounds.
Scientists say the greatest risk occurs when the dust is ingested.
Pentagon officials maintain the likelihood is low that the heavy depleted uranium dust would be ingested by many people. A 1990 study commissioned by the Army, however, linked depleted uranium with cancer. A subcommission of the United Nation Human Rights Commission resolved in 1996 that depleted uranium is a weapon of mass destruction that should be banned. The Pentagon reportedly has been unable to establish its own safety standards for using depleted uranium. The Pentagon's current regulations are based on Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards, which require masks and suits when dealing with depleted uranium contamination.