[CPEO-MEF] Calculating risk

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Illinois
Calculating risk
The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria received a
Defense Department grant to study exposure to depleted uranium
December 17, 2002
of the Journal Star

Most of the billions of dollars spent on national defense are not spent
on services or products that come out of central Illinois. Home to no
Raytheons, Lockheeds or Boeings, the area has no national reputation as
a beneficiary of Department of Defense contracts.

But that doesn't mean Peoria is getting shut out.

A local research scientist recently received a nearly $1 million defense
department grant to study the effect on humans of a material the
military used during the Gulf War - and continues to use - in the
production of bombs and tank armor. It's not the $14.7 billion Lockheed
Martin received in 2001, but it's good news for Dr. Stephen Lasley and
his employer, the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria,
the recipients of the new grant.

"From a professional standpoint this research is really uncharted
territory and that's a real challenge," said Lasley, an associate
professor of pharmacology at the school where he has worked since 1986.
"And from the school's perspective the capital investment we've received
could lead into off-shoots that we hope might fund more of these kinds
of studies after the grant period expires."

The grant - $965,931 through 2006 - funds research into the effects of
depleted uranium on human physiology; depleted uranium being the heavy
metal that is left over after highly radioactive uranium is removed to
be used for nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel. It is about 40 percent less
radioactive than just plain uranium - and considered less dangerous to
humans because of that - but the complete health risks of exposure are
not yet known. That's what Lasley and three lab assistants are studying
with the government's money.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.pjstar.com/news/topnews/g106192a.html

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