2008 CPEO Military List Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:34:24 -0700 (PDT)
Reply: cpeo-military
Subject: [CPEO-MEF] RADIATION - Depleted Uranium exposure near Colonie, New York
 
Submitted by Laura Olah <info@cswab.org>


Professor Randall Parrish, University of Leicester and NERC Isotope 
Geosciences Laboratory, British Geological Survey, UK
Dr. David Carpenter, Institute for Health and the Environment, NY
Professor John Arnason, The University at Albany, NY

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release: December 5, 2007

REPORT SHOWS NEW YORKERS CONTAMINATED WITH
DEPLETED URANIUM OVER 20 YEARS AFTER EXPOSURE

Uranium Found in Homes After Federal Cleanup of NL Industries Pollution

(Albany, NY) A new scientific report documents depleted uranium (DU) can 
be detected in people more than two decades after exposure when using 
high sensitivity urine tests. The tests were conducted on people who 
lived or worked near the former DU munitions factory in Colonie, New 
York. Recent environmental test results reveal that significant DU 
remains in some household dust, after a federal cleanup of the area.

The biological study shows a significant proportion of tested 
individuals have internal DU contamination as a result of exposure to DU 
emissions occurring over 20 years ago and or residual contamination 
still remaining from the former NL Industries factory near Albany, NY. 
Positive results were found in former employees and residents who lived 
or worked in close proximity to the plant during its active phase of 
emissions from 1958 to 1982. The detection of DU in 100% of workers and 
up to 20% of the residents tested is significant, since no previous 
study has documented evidence of exposure to DU aerosols more than 20 
years prior.

Five factory workers continue to excrete high amounts of uranium 
dominated by a DU isotopic signature. The persistence of high excretion 
rates of uranium in urine in workers, more than 20 years since active 
exposure, indicates that the body burden of uranium must still be 
significant, whether retained in lungs, lymphatic system, kidneys or 
bone. Of eighteen individuals that either lived or worked near the plant 
for many years, DU was detected in up to four, with DU being 1-12% of 
the excreted uranium The results are being published in an international 
journal, Science of the Total Environment, in the near future 
(electronically available on-line). The isotope measurements, which have 
never before been conducted on any community in the U.S., are a joint 
initiative of United States and United Kingdom scientists, led by 
Professor Randall Parrish. (See attached summary of journal article).

Scientists also conducted tests of household dust in a few homes and a 
business near the NL Industries site and discovered DU contamination in 
excess of the federal site cleanup standard. The startling results came 
just two months after the federal government ended a "clean up" of the 
site and surrounding neighborhood and 27 years after the NYS Supreme 
Court closed the NL Industries factory for illegal uranium emissions.

Randall Parrish, Professor, Dept. of Geology, University of Leicester 
and NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, British Geological Survey, 
Keyworth, UK said, "Our study has shown that it is possible to detect 
and potentially quantify the historic exposure of residents to aerosol 
DU oxides from the NL plant. The amount of DU aerosols released from the 
NL plant is comparable to the aerosolized DU from the entire 1991 Gulf 
War, and considering the attention paid to Gulf War veterans and their 
health concerns, I feel it is entirely appropriate to look at Colonie 
health issues in much more detail."

Dr. David Carpenter, Institute for Health & the Environment, University 
at Albany, said, "DU is a radioactive substance, and we know that 
ionizing radiation causes cancer and birth defects. Uranium also has 
toxicity independent of the radioactive component, but less is known 
about these effects. Study of the health of exposed individuals is 
necessary."

John Arnason, Professor, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University at 
Albany said, "Because DU occurs as microscopic particles that are 
potentially harmful when inhaled, resuspension of contaminated dust is a 
concern. The particles are similar to those produced in test ranges and 
battlefields where DU weapons have been used, making study of the NL 
Industries site critical to understanding this problem."

NL Industries emitted at least 5 tons of DU aerosols into a residential 
and commercial area from 1958 to 1982 from its factory at 1130 Central 
Avenue (Rte. 5), Colonie, NY. DU is a toxic chemical due to its heavy 
metal and radiological properties. NL used DU to manufacture 
armor-piercing munitions (projectiles) and other products.

Read the complete report at 
http://www.albany.edu/news/pdf_files/Depleted_Uranium_Article.pdf.



- 30 -

Depleted Uranium Contamination by Inhalation Exposure and its Detection 
after 20 Years: Implications for Human Health Assessment

Summary of Study

Parrish RR et al., Science of the Total Environment (2007)
Excerpts of journal article.

"Inhaled depleted uranium (DU) aerosols are recognized as a distinct 
human health hazard and DU has been suggested to be responsible in part 
for illness in both military and civilian populations that may have been 
exposed... We show using sensitive mass spectrometric techniques that 
when exposure to aerosol has been unambiguous and in sufficient 
quantity, urinary excretion of DU can be detected more than 20 years 
after primary DU inhalation contamination ceased... It seems reasonable 
to conclude that a chronically DU-exposed population exists within the 
contamination 'footprint' of the munitions plant in Colonie, NY."

NL Industries Contamination

"This study investigated the NL Industries uranium contaminated site and 
a small cohort of individuals that... resided near to or worked in the 
plant. It was involved in processing DU and to a lesser extent enriched 
uranium (EU), in Colonie", NY. " The plant emitted a DU (and possibly 
minor EU) aerosol plume arising from combustion of metallic uranium 
milling waste, over a period of decades until plant closure in 1984.... 
During the 23 years of active uranium emissions, many tons of fine 
uranium, mostly in the form of combusted oxide particles settled 
downwind from the plant.... The data from this study and from additional 
2006 soil samples (Lloyd, unpublished data 2007) were added up to 
determine that more than 5 tons of DU was deposited, primarily by 
aerosols, in the first 600 meters of radius from the plant, and that 
soils as far as 4 km from the plant have low level DU contamination. It 
is probable that between 5 and 10 tons of DU aerosols were historically 
emitted. This quantity is comparable to the total mass of respirable DU 
particles produced during the entire 1991 Persian Gulf Conflict, 
considering the proportion of all expended munitions likely to become 
aerosolized during hard target impact-related combustion."

Tests Show Depleted Uranium Internal Contamination

"This study documents residual internal DU contamination in all of the 
former employees tested (5 were tested) and in 10-20% of the ~20 tested 
individuals who either lived or worked in close proximity to the plant 
for at least 5 years during its active phase of emissions. The low 
number of individuals tested in our study precludes a quantitative 
extrapolation to the nearby population as a whole; this can be done only 
by testing a larger group. However, the detection of anomalous uranium 
in 100% of workers and up to 20% of our 'residents' cohort is in itself 
significant, since no previous study has documented evidence of DU 
exposure to aerosols more than 20 years prior...Individuals exposed to 
substantial quantities of DU aerosols are likely to retain a DU-positive 
signature for the rest of their lives."

"Five factory workers continue to excrete high amounts of uranium 
dominated by a DU isotopic signature... The persistence of high 
excretion rates of uranium in urine in workers, more than 20 years since 
active exposure, indicates that the body burden of uranium must still be 
significant, whether retained in lungs, lymphatic system, kidneys or 
bone..."

"Of the DU-positive residents' cohort, four had 238U/235U values ranging 
from 138.9 to 151.7, though two of these four are only marginally 
distinguishable as containing DU. The natural value is 137.88... 
Although most 'residents' did not have detectable DU, they may have been 
contaminated, but to an extent that has not been detected by our 
measurement threshold... With a few exceptions, all tested individuals 
lived or worked near the plant for 10 years or more during the active 
period of aerosol emissions from 1958 to 1981."


Implications for Human Health Assessment

"These findings cast new light on conclusions of a previous Health 
Consultation by the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 
(ATSDR, 2004). That study concluded that, although plant emissions posed 
a real health risk, further health assessments would not be justified 
because of a lack of demonstrated DU exposure in the population. In 
contrast our method could provide estimates of the incidence and 
magnitude of DU aerosol inhalation exposure of the residential 
population, which is clearly important data for any follow-up study of 
potential health outcomes of the nearby population."

"Estimates of the initial inhalation dose of DU positive individuals 
range from up to 6 mg DU for residents to nearly 1 gram DU for 
workers.... Given the variability in individuals and a probable 
variation in DU excretion of an individual from one day to the next, a 
considerable uncertainty exists for these calculated exposure estimates. 
However, their general magnitude falls into the Level II and Level I 
categories of exposure, respectively, referred to by the UK Royal 
Society (2001) and are sufficiently high to justify an investigation of 
the health implications in more detail and scope than has been 
undertaken to date."

"A comparison of these data with two recent larger testing programs of 
both UK veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf conflict and the recent 
conflict in Iraq is revealing. In these UK studies of more than 800 
individuals (DUOB, 2007; Bland et al., 2007) no DU-positive urine sample 
was found (the methods of analysis are largely comparable to those done 
in the Colonie study). In the case of Colonie where urinary DU is 
documented in exposed individuals after 25 years, the simplest 
conclusion is that if an individual is significantly exposed (i.e. Level 
II-Level I exposures; Royal Society, 2001), the urine isotope signature 
will persist for decades."

NL Industries Operation

"NLI was involved in the reduction of uranium tetra-fluoride to uranium 
metal, and fabrication of uranium articles from 1958-1984. These 
consisted mainly of DU projectiles, but with some enriched uranium for 
fuel rods prior to 1972.. In 1979 the NYS Department of Environment 
investigated claims that the stack filters were bypassed, and 
subsequently forced the temporary closure of the plant for excessive 
emissions of uranium compounds to the atmosphere. A soil survey in 1980 
found depleted uranium contamination within 600 m of the plant. The 
plant was permanently closed in 1984 and the property was transferred to 
the federal Department of Energy to remediate both the site and more 
than 50 contaminated nearby residential properties (ATSDR, 2004). The 
site has now been cleaned... by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, under 
the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program."

Background on Depleted Uranium Use

"Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of the uranium isotope enrichment 
process, and has similar chemical toxicity to enriched or chemically 
purified natural uranium. When inhaled or ingested in sufficient doses, 
DU constitutes a distinct health hazard (Royal Society, 2001, 2002; WHO, 
2001). DU has been used in military conflicts primarily as 
armor-penetrating munitions in the Persian Gulf conflict of 1991, the 
Balkans, and in Iraq primarily in 2003."

"Attempts to assess the significance of DU to health have been 
complicated in part by the lack of accurate exposure assessments, 
although it is clear that in laboratory experiments involving animals or 
cell cultures, high doses of DU induce cell damage and impair certain 
body functions. Although use of DU is acknowledged, the lack of evidence 
for substantial DU contamination of individuals via inhalation-ingestion 
has so far failed to clarify whether DU plays any role in Gulf War 
Illness. Recent studies appear to show that DU exposure may be uncommon 
to rare in military personnel, though it is uncertain whether and to 
what extent tested soldiers were exposed. The Colonie study is therefore 
important since it is a study of an exposed population with documented 
environmental aerosol contamination."

--

Laura Olah, Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand's Bay South
Merrimac, WI  53561
(608)643-3124
Email: info@cswab.org
Website: www.cswab.org






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