Ask Your Congress Member to Support a Study of Depleted Uranium

Rep. McDermott has introduced a bill in Congress, H.R. 2410, The Depleted Uranium Munitions Study Act, which calls for in-depth studies to be conducted on DU and its effects on the health of those exposed to it.

Ask your Congress Member to cosponsor.

The name depleted uranium (DU) implies that a nontoxic material, but nothing could be further from the truth. DU is extremely toxic and has a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years. Depleted Uranium is the by-product of nuclear energy production. DU, according to the BBC is “a very heavy substance, 1.7 times denser than lead, and it is highly valued by armies for its ability to punch through armored vehicles. When a weapon made with a DU tip or core strikes a solid object, like the side of a tank, it goes straight through it and then erupts in a burning cloud of vapor. The vapor settles as dust, which is chemically poisonous and also radioactive.