It involves about 320 tons of armor-piercing slugs that U.S. and British planes and tanks fired during the Gulf War. Heavier than lead, depleted uranium self-ignites and gets sharper as it penetrates armor. Much of it vaporizes, giving off fine particles that can be inhaled. Some fall onto the ground, sometimes where crops are later grown. Some cling to damaged equipment that soldiers and civilians later climb on.
Winds carry some away.
Iraqis say the particles have caused a sharp rise in cancer rates and birth deformities, especially in Basra and other southern areas. The World Health Organization has not yet studied depleted uranium in Iraq. Veterans groups in the United States are concerned because hundreds of U.S. soldiers may have had close exposure. Some think that could be one factor in the unusual illnesses many Gulf War veterans have reported. Definitive studies of depleted uranium's long-term effects have not been done.