Health Effects of Depleted Uranium on Exposed Gulf War Veterans

• Published in: Environmental research Vol. 82; no. 2; pp. 168 - 180
• Main Authors: McDiarmid, Melissa A., Keogh, James P., Hooper, Frank J., McPhaul, Kathleen, Squibb, Katherine, Kane, Robert, DiPino, Raymond, Kabat, Michael, Kaup, Bruce, Anderson, Larry, Hoover, Dennis, Brown, Lawrence, Hamilton, Matthew, Jacobson-Kram, David, Burrows, Belton, Walsh, Mark
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01-02-2000; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Biological effects of radiation; Case-Control Studies; central nervous system; depleted uranium; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gulf War; health effects; Hematologic Tests; Humans; Ionizing radiations; Kidney Function Tests; Male; metals; Middle East; munitions; Neurologic Examination; Occupational Exposure - adverse effects; Persian Gulf; Semen - chemistry; Semen - physiology; Tissues, organs and organisms biophysics; toxicity; United States; uranium; Uranium - adverse effects; Uranium - urine; Veterans; Warfare; Whole-Body Counting; Wounds and Injuries - complications; Middle East; United States; Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf; toxicity; metals; uranium; Gulf War; health effects; Human; Uranium; Accident; Health; Toxicity; Sequela; Biological effect; Metal; Veteran; Long term; Weapon; Military
• ISSN: 0013-9351; 1096-0953
• DOI: 10.1006/enrs.1999.4012

A small group of Gulf War veterans possess retained fragments of depleted uranium (DU) shrapnel, the long-term health consequences of which are undetermined. We evaluated the clinical health effects of DU exposure in Gulf War veterans compared with nonexposed Gulf War veterans. History and follow-up medical examination were performed on 29 exposed veterans and 38 nonexposed veterans. Outcome measures employed were urinary uranium determinations, clinical laboratory values, and psychiatric and neurocognitive assessment. DU-exposed Gulf War veterans with retained metal shrapnel fragments are excreting elevated levels of urinary uranium 7 years after first exposure (range 0.01–30.7 μg/g creatinine vs 0.01– 0.05 μg/g creatinine in the nonexposed). The persistence of the elevated urine uranium suggests on-going mobilization from a storage depot which results in a chronic systemic exposure. Adverse effects in the kidney, a presumed target organ, are not present at this time, though other effects are observed. Neurocognitive examinations demonstrated a statistical relationship between urine uranium levels and lowered performance on computerized tests assessing performance efficiency. Elevated urinary uranium was statistically related to a high prolactin level (>1.6 ng/ml; P=0.04). More than 7 years after first exposure, DU-exposed Gulf War veterans with retained metal fragments continue to excrete elevated concentrations of urinary uranium. Effects related to this are subtle perturbations in the reproductive and central nervous systems.