12 avril 2010 1 12 /04 /avril /2010 04:49

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Une étude italienne révèle que l’opération "Plomb durci" a entraîné un taux de contamination par les métaux alarmant chez de nombreux enfants de Gaza, et qu’il est impossible de les décontaminer tant que l’occupant israélien ne permet pas l’évacuation des structures métalliques en cause, et la reconstruction avec des matériaux propres. Israël : Etat Criminel ! Boycott !

Des traces de métaux détectées dans les cheveux d’enfants palestiniens font supposer une contamination environnementale

Communiqué de presse, 17 mars 2010.


De nombreux enfants palestiniens qui continuent à vivre en situation précaire à même le sol de Gaza après les bombardements israéliens de l’opération « Plomb durci » présentent dans les cheveux des concentrations en métaux inhabituellement élevées, signe d’une contamination environnementale qui peut causer des dommages à la santé et à la croissance du fait d’une exposition chronique.


Tel est le résultat d’une étude pilote conduite par le Groupe de Recherche sur les Armes Nouvelles (Nwrg), un comité indépendant, de scientifiques et d’experts, basé en Italie, qui étudie l’emploi d’armes non conventionnelles et leurs effets à moyen terme sur la population des zones où une guerre a eu lieu. Cette recherche fait suite à la précédente, publiée par Nwrg le 17 décembre 2009, dans laquelle le groupe relatait la présence de métaux toxiques dans les zones environnant les cratères laissés par les bombardements.


Ces tests ont révélé des concentrations anormales de métaux dans les cratères, laissant supposer une possible contamination du sol, laquelle, combinée aux conditions de vie précaires, en particulier dans les camps de réfugiés, pourrait avoir pour conséquence une exposition aux métaux, par la peau, par inhalation ou par la nourriture. Avec la nouvelle étude, le groupe s’assigne l’objectif de vérifier si des personnes ont été effectivement contaminées.


Le résultat est alarmant : même si la quantité de métal en excès n’est en fait que 2 à 3 fois supérieure à ce qui est trouvé dans les cheveux d’individus-témoins, ces doses peuvent néanmoins être pathogènes dans des situations d’exposition chronique.


L’étude, qui s’est étendue sur plusieurs mois, a procédé à l’analyse des cheveux relativement à 33 métaux par le procédé ICP/MS (un type de spectométrie à haute sensibilité). Les cheveux constituent un bon indicateur de contamination et l’investigation de contaminations environnementales fondée sur ces analyses est préconisée par l’Agence de Protection Environnementale (APE) et par l’Agence Internationale de l’énergie atomique (AIEA).


Le comité Nwrg a examiné des échantillons de cheveux de 95 personnes, des enfants en grande majorité, qui habitent dans des zones lourdement bombardées (ainsi que l’indique le Programme des Nations Unies sur l’Environnement, sur la base de cartes établies par des satellites). Parmi ces personnes se trouvaient également 6 femmes enceintes et 4 blessés. Les résultats ont établi que, dans les trois lieux – Beit Hanun, Gaza-Zeitun et Laly Beith – où les tests ont été effectués, la répartition de contaminants métalliques est plus élevée que la moyenne, et plus du double de celle-ci dans 60% des cas.


Dans plusieurs échantillons, ont été identifiés des métaux cancérigènes ou toxiques tels que le chrome, le cadmium, le cobalt, le tungstène et l’uranium, tandis que des niveaux exceptionnellement élevés de plomb ont été trouvés chez l’une des personnes blessées. Pour 39 des sujets examinés, la présence simultanée de métaux en surdose et/ou de métaux cancérigènes ont induit les chercheurs à préconiser pour eux des tests plus poussés.

Le problème, déclare le professeur Paola Manduca, est maintenant d’éliminer les sources de contamination.


« L’identification de sujets présentant de façon confirmée et persistante un taux élevé de métaux exigerait que la personne soit soustraite à cette exposition. Telle est l’approche thérapeutique privilégiée, compte tenu de l’incertitude sur l’efficacité et la sécurité d’un traitement par chélation, en particulier pour les enfants.


Or une telle mesure soulève de sérieux problèmes dans la situation actuelle de Gaza, où l’évacuation des structures endommagées et la construction sont difficiles voire impossibles. Ce qui représente une responsabilité majeure pour ceux qui, selon la loi internationale, devraient remédier aux dommages causés à la population civile ».


La présente étude est conduite par Mario Barbieri (Centre National de Référence), par Mauricio Barbieri, Professeur de géo-chimie environnementale à l’université La Sapienza de Rome, chef du laboratoire ICP/MS où les analyses ont été réalisées, et par Paola Manduca, généticienne. L’étude a été rendue possible grâce à la coopération des associations Gazella et Onlus.


La publication de ce travail a été faite le 17 mars 2010 sur le site www.newweapons.org

(Traduit de l’anglais par Anne-Marie PERRIN pour CAPJPO-EuroPalestine)


CAPJPO-EuroPalestine Publié le 19-03-2010


Source de la photo: macleans.files.wordpress.com

http://www.europalestine.com


Url de cet article: http://www.internationalnews.fr/article-des-metaux-cancerigenes-et-toxiques-contaminent-les-enfants-de-gaza-48869794.html


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D'Hiroshima à Bagdad par Joëlle PENOCHET

D'hiroshima à bagdad par joëlle penochet


The potentially widespread contamination of the soil of Gaza due to Israeli bombing

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3 février 2010 3 03 /02 /février /2010 21:53
Original : http://www.paltelegraph.com/palesti...

Info-Palestine
3 février 2010

Par Maysaa Jarour


Bien qu’israël ait interrompu son « Opération « Cast Lead » fin Janvier 2009, ses effets sont encore apparents et se feront encore sentir pendant les décennies à venir.

(JPG)
Photo : Palestine Telegraph


Des médecins de la ville de Gaza font état d’une augmentation alarmante des malformations congénitales chez les femmes ayant été exposées au phosphore blanc et à d’autres produits chimiques utilisées dans les armes israéliennes.


Dalal Al-Agh, une femme habitant le quartier Al-Tofah dans la ville de Gaza, a récemment donné naissance à un bébé malformé à l’hôpital Al-Shifa. Le nourrisson a des difficultés à respirer, ses bras sont trop courts, et ses pieds et son nez sont plats. Il pèse à peine quatre livres et il a été pris en charge par l’unité néonatale de soins intensifs.


Les médecins ont observé que la mère du nourrisson malformé vivait dans le quartier d’Al-Tofah dans Gaza, lequel a été attaqué par les Israéliens avec des bombes au phosphore blanc pendant la dernière guerre. Ils en déduisent que les défauts à la naissance sont la conséquence directe de l’exposition à ce produit chimique, qui selon les groupes de défense des droits humains, ne devraient pas être utilisés dans des zones densément peuplées de civils.

 


Le docteur Thabet Al-Masri, chef du Département des soins intensifs néonatals à Al-Shifa, a fourni les statistiques de son unité, montrant une augmentation des malformations congénitales depuis l’invasion israélienne de l’an dernier. Malheureusement, il n’existe pas de statistiques disponibles pour l’ensemble des hôpitaux de la bande de Gaza ou même de la ville de Gaza, a-t-il ajouté.


Environ 40 000 bébés naissent chaque année dans la bande de Gaza, dont 12 à 13 000 voient le jour à l’hôpital Al-Shifa.


Le tableau ci-dessous montre le pourcentage d’enfants nés à Al-Shifa avec des malformations congénitales au cours de la période Juillet-Septembre 2009, comparé à 2008. De toute évidence, il y a eu une augmentation des malformations :


Juillet-août 2008 : 0,7 %
Septembre 2008 : 0,8 %

Juillet 2009 : 1 %
Août 2009 : 1,2 %
Septembre 2009 : 1,2 %


Le nombre d’enfants malformés morts dans les services de soins intensifs a également sensiblement augmenté de 2008 à 2009.


En ce qui concerne les raisons de cette augmentation des anomalies congénitales chez les nourrissons de Gaza, le Dr Thabet accusent des agents à la fois à la fois génétiques et environnementaux. Outre l’exposition de la mère au phosphore blanc pendant les premiers mois de la grossesse, d’autres facteurs environnementaux comprennent les radiations et les gaz utilisés dans les armes employées par Israël dans sa guerre contre Gaza.


Un des enfants difformes, dont le nom n’a pas été divulgué, a quitté les soins intensifs après une opération chirurgicale, mais il y est ensuite retourné en raison d’un dysfonctionnement respiratoire.


En Décembre, l’association Al Dameer de défense des droits de l’homme a publié un document intitulé : « La santé et les problèmes environnementaux dans la bande de Gaza conduisent à une augmentation du nombre de bébés nés avec des malformations congénitales, à des avortements et à des maladies cancéreuses dues à l’utilisation par l’armée israélienne de produits radioactifs et de matières toxiques au cours de sa dernière offensive contre le territoire. »


Montrant la forte augmentation des malformations à la naissance, le document conclut qu’Israël est responsable d’une catastrophe écologique et sanitaire dans la Bande de Gaza.


Selon un responsable au ministère de la Santé à Gaza, une étude sera lancée prochainement pour analyser l’augmentation des défauts à la naissance à partir de 2005 (année où les premières données sont disponibles) jusqu’à 2009, juste après la dernière guerre israélienne contre Gaza. Il a ajouté que les résultats de la recherche pourraient être publiés d’ici la fin février.


Titre original:  Effets des armes israéliennes : les malformations à la naissance en augmentation à Gaza


Traduction : Info-Palestine.net

http://www.info-palestine.net

http://www.internationalnews.fr/article-un-an-apres-l-agression-de-gaza-les-malformations-congenitales-sont-en-augmentation-44206169.html

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17 novembre 2009 2 17 /11 /novembre /2009 09:45
The Observer
Sunday 30 August 2009

Gurpreet Sigh being treated at the Baba Farid centre for Special Children in Bathinda
Photograph: Gethin Chamberlain

Observer investigation uncovers link between dramatic rise in birth defects in Punjab and pollution from coal-fired power stations


Gethin Chamberlain, Bathinda

Gurpreet Sigh, 7, who has cerebral palsy and microcephaly, and is from Sirsar, 50km from the Punjabi town of Bathinda. He is being treated at the Baba Farid centre for Special Children in Bathinda


Their heads are too large or too small, their limbs too short or too bent. For some, their brains never grew, speech never came and their lives are likely to be cut short: these are the children it appears that India would rather the world did not see, the victims of a scandal with potential implications far beyond the country's borders.


Some sit mutely, staring into space, lost in a world of their own; others cry out, rocking backwards and forwards. Few have any real control over their own bodies. Their anxious parents fret over them, murmuring soft words of encouragement, hoping for some sort of miracle that will free them from a nightmare.


Health workers in the Punjabi cities of Bathinda and Faridkot knew something was terribly wrong when they saw a sharp increase in the number of birth defects, physical and mental abnormalities, and cancers. They suspected that children were being slowly poisoned.


But it was only when a visiting scientist arranged for tests to be carried out at a German laboratory that the true nature of their plight became clear. The results were unequivocal. The children had massive levels of uranium in their bodies, in one case more than 60 times the maximum safe limit.


The results were both momentous and mysterious. Uranium occurs naturally throughout the world, but is normally only present in low background levels which pose no threat to human health. There was no obvious source in the Punjab that could account for such high levels of contamination.


And if a few hundred children – spread over a large area – were contaminated, how many thousands more might also be affected? Those are questions the Indian authorities appear determined not to answer. Staff at the clinics say they were visited and threatened with closure if they spoke out. The South African scientist whose curiosity exposed the scandal says she has been warned by the authorities that she may not be allowed back into the country.


But an Observer investigation has now uncovered disturbing evidence to suggest a link between the contamination and the region's coal-fired power stations. It is already known that the fine fly ash produced when coal is burned contains concentrated levels of uranium and a new report published by Russia's leading nuclear research institution warns of an increased radiation hazard to people living near coal-fired thermal power stations.


The test results for children born and living in areas around the state's power stations show high levels of uranium in their bodies. Tests on ground water show that levels of uranium around the plants are up to 15 times the World Health Organisation's maximum safe limits. Tests also show that it extends across large parts of the state, which is home to 24 million people.


The findings have implications not only for the rest of India – Punjab produces two-thirds of the wheat in the country's central reserves and 40% of its rice – but for many other countries planning to build new power plants, including China, Russia, India, Germany and the US. In Britain, there are plans for a coal-fired station at the Kingsnorth facility in Kent.


The victims are being treated at the Baba Farid centres for special children in Bathinda – where there are two coal-fired thermal plants – and in nearby Faridkot. It was staff at those clinics who first voiced concerns about the increasing numbers of admissions involving severely handicapped children. They were being born with hydrocephaly, microcephaly, cerebral palsy, Down's syndrome and other complications. Several have already died.


Dr Pritpal Singh, who runs the Faridkot clinic, said the numbers of children affected by the pollution had risen dramatically in the past six or seven years. But he added that the Indian authorities appeared determined to bury the scandal. "They can't just detoxify these kids, they have to detoxify the whole Punjab. That is the reason for their reluctance," he said. "They threatened us and said if we didn't stop commenting on what's happening, they would close our clinic.


"But I decided that if I kept silent it would go on for years and no one would do anything about it. If I keep silent then the next day it will be my child. The children are dying in front of me."


Dr Carin Smit, the South African clinical metal toxicologist who arranged for the tests to be carried out in Germany, said that the situation could no longer be ignored. "There is evidence of harm for these children in my care and... it is an imperative that their bodies be cleaned up and their metabolisms be supported to deal with such a devastating presence of radioactive material," she said.


"If the contamination is as widespread as it would appear to be – as far west as Muktsar on the Pakistani border, and as far east as the foothills of Himachal Pradesh – then millions are at high risk and every new baby born to a contaminated mother is at risk."


In the Faridkot centre last week, Harmanbir Kaur, 15, was rocking gently backwards and forwards. When her test results came back, they showed she had 10 times the safe limit of uranium in her body. Her brother, Naunihal Singh, six, has double the safe level.


Harmanbir was born in Muktsar, 25 miles from Faridkot. Her mother, Kulbir Kaur, 37, watched her slowly degenerate from a healthy baby into the girl she is today, dribbling constantly, unable to feed herself, lost in a world of her own. "God knows what sin I have committed. When we go to our village people say there is a curse of God on you, but I don't believe so," she said. "Every part of this area is affected. We never imagined that there would be uranium in our kids."


A few miles down the road in Bathinda, Sukhminder Singh, 48, a farmer, watched his son Kulwinder, 13, staring into space while curling his hands up under his chin. Tests showed Kulwinder has 19 times the maximum safe level of uranium in his body. He has cerebral palsy and has already had seven operations to unbend his arms and legs.


"The government should investigate it because if our child is affected it will also affect future generations," he said. "What are they waiting for? How many children do they want to be affected? Another generation? I can leave the house for work, but my wife is always with him. Sometimes she cries and asks why God is playing with our luck. Every morning he sends a new trouble."


Doni Choudhary, aged 15 months, is waiting to be tested, though staff say he shows similar symptoms to those who have tested positive and are treating him for suspected uranium poisoning. His mother, Neelum, 22, from the state capital, Chandigarh, says he was born with hydrocephaly. His legs are useless.


"He is dependent on others. After me, who can care for him?" Neelum asks. "He tries to speak but he can't express himself and my heart cries. When will he understand that his legs don't work? What will he feel?"


India's reluctance to acknowledge the problem is hardly unexpected: the country is heavily committed to an expansion of thermal plants in Punjab and other states. Neither was it any surprise when a team of scientists from the Department of Atomic Energy visited the area and concluded that while the concentration of uranium in drinking water was "slightly high", there was "nothing to worry" about. Yet some tests recorded levels of uranium in the ground water as high as 224mcg/l (micrograms per litre) – 15 times higher than the safe level of 15mcg/l recommended by the WHO. (The US Environmental Protection Agency sets a maximum safe level of 20mcg/l.)

Some scientists have proposed that the ground water may have been contaminated by contact with granite rocks that rise above the ground about 150 miles away to the south in the Tosham hills, in Haryana state. A continuation of these rocks is believed to run deep below the thick alluvial deposits that form the plains of Punjab.


Increasing demands for water, in particular to irrigate the rice crop, have led to greater dependence on tube wells. That in turn is depleting the water table in the state at an alarming rate – by at least 30cm a year, according to one study – with the result that water is being drawn from ever deeper levels. However, this theory seems to be in conflict with evidence from parents of many of the children, who say they use the mains supply, which comes from other sources.


There have also been claims that the contamination may have been exacerbated by depleted uranium carried on the wind from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At a seminar in Amritsar in April, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, a former chief of the naval staff, suggested that areas within a 1,000-mile radius of Kabul – including Punjab – may be affected by depleted uranium. Although the prevailing monsoon winds blow either from the north-east or the south-west, there are times when a depression originating in the Mediterranean can result in rainfall in Punjab.


Meanwhile, smoke continues to pour from the power station chimneys and lorries shuttle backwards and forwards, taking away the fly ash to be mixed into cement at the neighbouring Ambuja factory. Inside the plant last week, there was ash everywhere, forming drifts, clinging to the skin, getting into the throat.

Ravindra Singh, the plant's security officer, said that most of the ash went to the cement works, while the rest was dumped in ash ponds. It would be more efficient to burn better quality coal that left less ash, he said. Every day the plant burned 6,000 tons of coal. He had no idea how much ash that generated, but the stream of lorries to take it away was continuous.


The first coal-fired power station in Punjab was commissioned in Bathinda in 1974, followed by another in nearby Lehra Mohabat in 1998. There is a third to the east, at Rupnagar.


Tests on ground water in villages in Bathinda district found the highest average concentration of uranium – 56.95mcg/l – in the town of Bucho Mandi, a short distance from the Lehra Mohabat ash pond. Such a concentration of uranium means the lifetime cancer risk in the village was more than 153 times higher than in the normal population. Tests on ground water in the village of Jai Singh Wala, close to the Bathinda ash pond, showed an average level of 52.79mcg/l. People living there said they used the ash to spread on the roads and even on the floors of their homes.


Scientists in Punjab who have studied the presence of uranium in the state have dismissed the government denials as a whitewash. "If the government says there is a high level of uranium in an area that would create havoc – they don't want to openly say something like that," said Dr Chander Parkash, a wetland ecologist working at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.


Both he and Dr Surinder Singh, who works at the same university and has also carried out tests on the state's ground water, said it was clear that uranium was present in large quantities and should be investigated further.


Another scientist, Dr GS Dhillon, a former chief engineer with the irrigation department, is convinced that the uranium has come from the power stations and accuses the authorities of failing to control the ash ponds, which he believes have contaminated the ground water.


Their concerns are bolstered by a report from the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, Russia's leading state organisation for nuclear research, published last month in the Russian Academy of Sciences' Thermal Engineering journal. The report's author, DA Krylov, raised serious doubts about the safety of coal-fired thermal power stations (TPSs), concluding that radiation from ash residues and from chimney emissions built up around coal-fired power plants and posed an additional risk to those living and working in the area.


"Natural radionuclides contained in coals concentrate in ash-and-slag wastes and gas-aerosol emissions as these coals are fired at TPSs, with the result that an elevated man-made radiation background builds up around TPSs," the report stated. The situation became worse, the report said, if ash was used as a construction material or as a filling material for roads.

A previous report in the magazine Scientific American, citing various sources, claimed that fly ash emitted by power plants "carries into the surrounding environment 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy", adding: "When coal is burned into fly ash, uranium and thorium are concentrated at up to 10 times their original levels."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/30/india-punjab-children-uranium-pollution/print

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17 novembre 2009 2 17 /11 /novembre /2009 05:08

To:  The United Nations

Photo: TheGuardian.uk

Young women in Fallujah in Iraq are terrified of having children because of the increasing number of babies born grotesquely deformed, with no heads, two heads, a single eye in their foreheads, scaly bodies or missing limbs. In addition, young children in Fallujah are now experiencing hideous cancers and leukaemias. These deformities are now well documented, for example in television documentaries on SKY UK on September 1 2009, and on SKY UK June 2008. Our direct contact with doctors in Fallujah report that:

 


In September 2009, Fallujah General Hospital had 170 new born babies, 24% of whom were dead within the first seven days, a staggering 75% of the dead babies were classified as deformed.This can be compared with data from the month of August in 2002 where there were 530 new born babies of whom six were dead within the first seven days and only one birth defect was reported.

 


Doctors in Fallujah have specifically pointed out that not only are they witnessing unprecedented numbers of birth defects but premature births have also considerably increased after 2003. But what is more alarming is that doctors in Fallujah have said, "a significant number of babies that do survive begin to develop severe disabilities at a later stage".



Child with unknown defomity of the mouth, possibly a large tumour grown during foetal stage. Photo: Dr Günther


As one of a number of doctors, scientists and those with deep concern for Iraq, Dr Chris Burns-Cox, a British hospital physician, wrote a letter to the Rt. Hon. Clare Short, M.P. asking about this situation. She wrote a letter to the Rt. Hon.Douglas Alexander, M.P. the Secretary of State of the Department for International Development (a post she had held before she resigned on a matter of principle in May 2003 ) asking for clarification of the position of deformed children in Fallujah.

She received a reply dated 3rd September 2009 (two days after the Sky TV broadcast of 1st September 2009 ) from a junior minister, deputy to The Secretary of State, Mr. Gareth Thomas MP, Duty Minister, Department for International Development. In his reply he denies that there are more than two or three deformed babies in Fallujah in a year and asserts that there is, therefore, no problem. This is at wild variance with reports coming out of Fallujah. One grave digger of a single cemetery is burying four to five babies a day, most of which he says are deformed.

Clare Short passed us a copy of this letter. It bears a remarkable similarity to three other written answers we have received over a four year period, in regard to child health and the use of depleted uranium. All these letters are based on lies and an aim to confuse the recipients. In her autobiography "Honorable Deception?" Clare Short says "The first instinct of Number 10 (Downing Street) is to lie."We regard the mendacity of Mr. Thomas's letter, and of the other letters we have received, as extremely serious. These letters do not deal with minor matters of corruption, or taxes, but do deal with the use of armed forces and deadly weapons.

 


Iraqi child with extreme hydrocephalus, and defects of cerebral nerves. Photo: Dr Gunther


The use of certain weapons has tremendous repercussions. Iraq will become a country, if it has not already done so, where it is advisable not to have children. Other countries will watch what has happened in Iraq, and imitate the Coalition Allies' total disregard of the United Nations Charter, The Geneva, and Hague Conventions, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Some countries, such as Afghanistan, will also come to experience the very long term damage to the environment, measured in billions of years, and the devastating effect of depleted uranium and white phosphorous munitions.

 

Source: siliconeer.com


If, as we say in our letter to the Duty Minister of the Department for International Development, the UK Government clearly does not know the effects of the weapons it uses, nor, as a matter of policy, does "it do body counts", how can the UK Government judge whether it is conducting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan according to International Law, especially in terms of "proportionality" and long term damage to the natural environment? How can the UK know about the illegality of the weapons systems it sells on the international market, such as the "Storm Shadow" missile, if the very Department of the Government that is supposed to assess the deaths and medical needs of children and adults in Iraq is not telling the truth.

We request from the United Nations General Assembly the following:

1. To acknowledge that there is a serious problem regarding the unprecedented number of birth defects and cancer cases in Iraq specifically in Fallujah, Basra, Baghdad and Al - Najaf.

2. To set up an independent committee to conduct a full investigation into the problem of the increased number of birth defects and cancers in Iraq.

3. To implement the cleaning up of toxic materials used by the occupying forces including Depleted Uranium, and White Phosphorus.

4. To prevent children and adults entering contaminated areas to minimize exposure to these hazards.

5. To investigate whether war crimes, or crimes against humanity, have been committed, and thereby uphold the United Nations Charter, The Geneva and Hague Conventions, and The Rome Statute of The International Criminal Court.


Sincerely,

The Undersigned


link http://www.petitiononline.com/hdcif/petition.html

Iraq: Huge rise in birth defects in Falluja

'My baby was blind. She couldn't eat or speak. I mourn for her' – families' heartache over Falluja birth defects

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14 novembre 2009 6 14 /11 /novembre /2009 13:59
All articles on Depleted Uranium: Depleted Uranium/Uranium appauvri
World news guardian co uk
November 13 2009
Martin Chulov in Falluja

Iraqi former battle zone sees abnormal clusters of infant tumours and deformities


Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting.

 

 (Article continues below)


The extraordinary rise in birth defects has crystallised over recent months as specialists working in Falluja's over-stretched health system have started compiling detailed clinical records of all babies born.


Neurologists and obstetricians in the city interviewed by the Guardian say the rise in birth defects – which include a baby born with two heads, babies with multiple tumours, and others with nervous system problems - are unprecedented and at present unexplainable.


A group of Iraqi and British officials, including the former Iraqi minister for women's affairs, Dr Nawal Majeed a-Sammarai, and the British doctors David Halpin and Chris Burns-Cox, have petitioned the UN general assembly to ask that an independent committee fully investigate the defects and help clean up toxic materials left over decades of war – including the six years since Saddam Hussein was ousted.


"We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies," said Falluja general hospital's director and senior specialist, Dr Ayman Qais. "Before 2003 [the start of the war] I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically."


The rise in frequency is stark – from two admissions a fortnight a year ago to two a day now. "Most are in the head and spinal cord, but there are also many deficiencies in lower limbs," he said. "There is also a very marked increase in the number of cases of less than two years [old] with brain tumours. This is now a focus area of multiple tumours."


After several years of speculation and anecdotal evidence, a picture of a highly disturbing phenomenon in one of Iraq's most battered areas has now taken shape. Previously all miscarried babies, including those with birth defects or infants who were not given ongoing care, were not listed as abnormal cases.


The Guardian asked a paediatrician, Samira Abdul Ghani, to keep precise records over a three-week period. Her records reveal that 37 babies with anomalies, many of them neural tube defects, were born during that period at Falluja general hospital alone.


Dr Bassam Allah, the head of the hospital's children's ward, this week urged international experts to take soil samples across Falluja and for scientists to mount an investigation into the causes of so many ailments, most of which he said had been "acquired" by mothers before or during pregnancy.


Other health officials are also starting to focus on possible reasons, chief among them potential chemical or radiation poisonings. Abnormal clusters of infant tumours have also been repeatedly cited in Basra and Najaf – areas that have in the past also been intense battle zones where modern munitions have been heavily used.


Falluja's frontline doctors are reluctant to draw a direct link with the fighting. They instead cite multiple factors that could be contributors.


"These include air pollution, radiation, chemicals, drug use during pregnancy, malnutrition, or the psychological status of the mother," said Dr Qais. "We simply don't have the answers yet."


The anomalies are evident all through Falluja's newly opened general hospital and in centres for disabled people across the city. On 2 November alone, there were four cases of neuro-tube defects in the neo-natal ward and several more were in the intensive care ward and an outpatient clinic.


Falluja was the scene of the only two setpiece battles that followed the US-led invasion. Twice in 2004, US marines and infantry units were engaged in heavy fighting with Sunni militia groups who had aligned with former Ba'athists and Iraqi army elements.

The first battle was fought to find those responsible for the deaths of four Blackwater private security contractors working for the US. The city was bombarded heavily by American artillery and fighter jets. Controversial weaponry was used, including white phosphorus, which the US government admitted deploying.


Statistics on infant tumours are not considered as reliable as new data about nervous system anomalies, which are usually evident immediately after birth. Dr Abdul Wahid Salah, a neurosurgeon, said: "With neuro-tube defects, their heads are often larger than normal, they can have deficiencies in hearts and eyes and their lower limbs are often listless. There has been no orderly registration here in the period after the war and we have suffered from that. But [in relation to the rise in tumours] I can say with certainty that we have noticed a sharp rise in malignancy of the blood and this is not a congenital anomaly – it is an acquired disease."


Despite fully funding the construction of the new hospital, a well-equipped facility that opened in August, Iraq's health ministry remains largely disfunctional and unable to co-ordinate a response to the city's pressing needs.


The government's lack of capacity has led Falluja officials, who have historically been wary of foreign intervention, to ask for help from the international community. "Even in the scientific field, there has been a reluctance to reach out to the exterior countries," said Dr Salah. "But we have passed that point now. I am doing multiple surgeries every day. I have one assistant and I am obliged to do everything myself."


Additional reporting: Enas Ibrahim.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects

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Depleted Uranium/Uranium appauvri

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14 novembre 2009 6 14 /11 /novembre /2009 13:39
November 8, 200

By Prof Souad N. Al-Azzawi


The following text was presented to the Kuala Lumpur International Conference to Criminalise War, Putra World Trade Centre, 28-31 October 2009.

For two decades, the administrations of the United States of America and the United Kingdom have been waging continuous wars on Iraq to occupy this oil rich country.


The armed forces of those two countries attacked civilians with different kinds of conventional, non-conventional, and banned weapons such as cluster bombs ammunitions, napalm bombs, white phosphorous weapons and depleted Uranium weapons.


Depleted Uranium (DU) is a radioactive and chemically toxic heavy metal. If ingested, inhaled, or it enters the human body through wounds or skin, it remains there for decades.


Within the human body the (DU) particles would be a continuous source for emitting alpha particles. With its toxic effects, published research & epidemiological studies have proved that it causes serious health damages to the human body. Some of the damage to the human body is to lymph tissue, kidneys, developing fetuses, neurological system, the bones, lung fibrosis, and an increase in the risk of many types of cancer and malignancies.

 

depleted-uranium.jpg


Hundreds of tons of (DU) expenditure have been fired & exploded on Iraqi highly populated areas like Basrah, Baghdad, Nasriya, Dewania, Samawa, and other cities.


Exploration programs and site measurements by Iraqi and non-Iraqi researchers all proved the existence of (DU) related contamination over most Iraqi territories.


Iraq's Minister of Environment admitted in July 23, 2007 in Cairo that "at least 350 sites in Iraq are contaminated with (DU)". She added that the nation is facing a tremendous number of cancer cases and called for the international community to help Iraq cope with this problem.

A few years after exposure to (DU) contamination, multifold increase of malignancies, congenital malformations, miscarriages, children leukemia, and sterility cases have been registered in suburb areas of Basrah and other surrounding areas. Similar problems appeared in Falluja, where illegal weapons were also used intensively in the 2004 attack of occupation forces on the city. More than two million of the Iraqi population died since 1991 because of the synergic multiple impact of using (DU) weapons, economical sanctions, and the destruction of the health care systems.


The economical sanction that were also imposed by USA and UK administrations deprived the children and people of Iraq their rights in food,  potable water, health care, sanitation and other life supporting necessities.


The USA and UK administrations have subjected the whole nation of Iraq for two decades to torture and slow death through the intentional use of radioactive weapons and the sanctions. The continuous and intentional use of radioactive weapons is a crime against humanity due to its undifferentiating harmful health effects on civilians in contaminated areas tens of years to come after the military engagements. The existence of (DU) radioactive contamination in the surrounding environment is a continuous source of exposure to low level radiation. This exposure can be considered as a systematic attack on Iraqi civilians in an armed conflict, according to Article 4 of the official regulations and Article 7 of the ICC.


This paper is submitted to present the facts and scientific evidences regarding the intentional use of the USA and UK administrations of depleted uranium weapons against the people and environment of Iraq, in addition to the health consequences that have been result from them.

 

1.0 Introduction:


The administrations of the United States of America and the United Kingdom have been continuously waging wars against Iraq since 1991.


The armed forces of these two administrations have been using different kinds and new generations of conventional, nonconventional, and illegal weapons like Napalm, cluster bombs, white phosphorous, microwave, and Depleted Uranium weapons [1][2][3][4] against the human population and the environment of Iraq. Invasion and occupation of Iraq proved to the world that oil flow is the main reason behind these criminal attacks.


As a result of using these weapons, with the economical sanctions that were also imposed on Iraq by the same administration more than two million Iraqi people died and the count continues.


In this paper, we present the consequences and damage resulting from the use of Depleted Uranium weaponry against Iraq, backed by scientific fact and research.

 

2.0 What is Depleted Uranium?


Depleted Uranium (DU) is a man-made, radioactive, heavy metal extracted from Uranium ore. Since (DU) is a byproduct of the Uranium enrichment process to produce spent fuel for nuclear reactors. Natural Uranium has an isotopic content of 99.274% of U-238 by weight, 0.072% of U-235, & 0.0057% of U-234 [5].


Due to its highly pyrophoric and spontaneously ignitable properties, the DU penetrator ignites on impact generating extremely high temperatures. As the projectile pierces, it leaves its jacket behind dispersing DU dust into the environment during the impact. The quantity of the aerosol production is proportional to DU mass within the projectile and the hardness of the impact.


It is estimated that up to 70%of DU in the projectiles to be aerosolized when on the impact DU catches fire [6]. The explosion generates high temperatures of (3000-6000) °C. The aerosols particles are smaller than 5µm in size [6]. These nano-particles act more like a gas than a particle. The DU aerosols remain windborne for an extended time and this is the most dangerous pathway on civilian population around the battlefield areas.


3.0 Depleted Uranium within the human body


There is empirical documentation that suggests that DU aerosols can travel up to 26 miles [5], others suggest even further distances. The full radiation effect of DU occurs six months after production [6]. One milligram of U-238 can give of 1, 07, 000 alpha particles in one day. Each alpha particle releases over 4 MeV (million-electron-volts) of energy. If swallowed or inhaled, this much energy will hit up to 6 nearby cells away in the organ [6]. Just 6-10ev (electron volt) is needed to cleave the nuclear DNA strand in the cell.


Dr. Rosalie Bertell, an epidemiologist with 30-years experience in the field of low level radiation explains DU potential harm to the human body [6]:


After inhalation (DU) nano-particle aerosols cross the lung-blood barrier and gain entrance to the cells. They create free radicals. As a heavy metal, DU toxicity attacks the proteins in the cell which normally fight the free radicals, and creates extra free radicals. This amount of free radicals creates total oxidative stress in the human body. This stress causes failure to protective enzymes, leaving cells vulnerable to viruses and mycoplasmas, damage to cellular communication system and the mitochondria.


As a heavy metal, DU replaces the magnesium in the organ’s molecules that normally function as antioxidants, and causes the destruction of the body’s repair mechanisms. Consequences of this destruction are chronic diseases and tumors. Free radicals can also totally disrupt the folding process and manufacturing of the molecule proteins which is sequenced by DNA and manufactured by the RNA. Some of the diseases resulted from misrouted proteins include cystic fibrosis, diabetes insipidus and cancer. [6]


Amassing and accumulation of misfolded proteins leads to neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s Diseases and early onset Alzheimer’s disease. In these diseases, amyloids are formed from protein fragments and dysfunctional proteins and that “Misfolded proteins” are the central pathogenic mechanism.


Gulf War veterans have manifested many of the symptoms of these neurodegenerative diseases.[6]


Other health effects of DU within the human body are:

 

-           Lou Gehrig’s disease is twice as commonly diagnosed in Gulf War veterans as expected.

-           Immune and Hormonal system damage

-           Disturbance of thyroid function

-           Mycoplasmas invasion into human cells.

-           Initiation or promotion of cancer

-           Tetratogenic toxicity which causes mental retardation, congenital malformations.

-           GW veterans were twice-three times as likely to report children with birth defects as their counter partner who did not serve in the first Gulf War.

-           Miscarriages

 

Dr. Hari Sharma, formerly of the University of Waterloo, tested the urine of some US, UK and Canadian veterans as well as Iraqi civilians from Basra and Baghdad.

Using 24hr urine samples, his isotopic analysis revealed a range of DU in the sample of (81-1,340) nanogram. Results showed that two of the three Iraqis from Al Basra had 147 – 426 nanograms respectively in their urine. Also it showed that 2 out of 5 Iraqis from Baghdad have DU in their urine

 

4.0 Other Important Scientific Evidence:


•           Dr Alexandra C. Miller and her team at the Armed Forces Radiological Research Institute, Bethesda, MD and the University of Paris, France used human cell models (the human Osteoblast cell HOS) to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of DU in vitro through assessing morphological transformation, genotoxicity [7] (chromosomal aberration), mutagenic (HRRT Ioci) and genomic instability.


Published data of the results have demonstrated that DU exposure in vitro to immortalized HOS cells is neoplatically transforming, mutagenic, genotoxic, and induces genomic instability. Other results showed:


-           Exposure to embedded DU pellets could induce leukemia in mice.

-           Internalized DU resulted in significant increases in the mutagenic frequency in the Lac gene in the tests of the exposed mice.

-           Internalized DU resulted in the development of bladder carcinoma in 75% of all animal exposed within 90 days of initial DU exposure.


As we can see all these results suggest that long-term exposure to internalized DU could be critical to the development of neoplastic disease in humans.


•           Pub. Radiation Protection Dosimetry Schroder, Heike 2003. A molecular biologist conducted research about the chromosomal aberration on white blood cells of 16 British Gulf War veterans of 1991. The veterans have suffered from symptoms ranging from headache, to chronic fatigue, depression, muscle and joint pains, impaired short-term memory and other cognitive defects. [8]


The results showed that the mean frequency of their blood cells chromosomal aberrations is 5-fold elevation higher than the control blood samples. This strongly indicated previous exposure to ionizing radiations.


The intercellular distribution of the Dicentric and  Centric ring chromosomes indicates significant over dispersion on the group level for the veterans who served in the Gulf War. Dic and CR are a known consequence of non uniform irradiation on the human body. [8]


•           Dr. Huda Ammash, Professor of Molecular Biology in Baghdad University and her team [9] conducted and published the results of genetic hematological analysis for a group of individuals living in DU contaminated areas in southern Iraq. Blood tests for the (47) individuals who lived in Basrah contaminated areas and another 30 as a control group. The control group individuals lived in Baghdad.

 

-           Blood tests showed that 21% of the studied individuals in Basrah group suffered a reduction in hemoglobin concentration of (9-13) g/d.

-           The blood packed cell volume (PCV) test results showed that 25.5% of Basrah studied group showed abnormal (PCV) rates of (30-39)% less than the normal rate.

-           Total white Blood Cells count (WBC) results showed that 8% of the individuals in the Basrah study group with (WBC) less than normal which is (4000)c/ml or higher than normal rate (1100)c/ml.

-           Compound chromosomal changes in the lymphocytes of periphal blood of the individuals of Basrah studied group had been found at a ratio of (0.1118)% which is significantly higher than that of the control group.

-           The ratio of dicentric and ring centric chromosomal abnormality fraction was found to be (0.04479) which is higher than ordinary ratio chromosomal damages where mostly in male veteran individuals. One case was for a 13 year old young boy at the time of the exposure in Al-Zubair contaminated area.

 

•           Rita Hindin, et al [5] published a paper “Teratogenicity of Depleted Uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective” in which they stated that animal studies firmly support the possibility that DU is a teratogen. They also concluded that the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with the increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU.

 

•           For further scientific evidences by Iraqi researchers, check: ”Depleted Uranium Contamination: Iraq: An overview” http:///www.globalresearch.org.

 

5.0 Contaminating Iraq with Depleted Uranium


The USA and UK armed forces used Depleted Uranium ammunition for the first time in the history of their wars during the Gulf War of 1991. About one million bullets, projectiles, and missiles were fired along the highway from Kuwait to Basrah then up to Nasriya and other Iraqi cities. About 60-65% of this ammunition and expenditure were fired within Iraqi territories, Figure 1 shows areas where DU expenditure have been used in the Gulf War of 1991 [11].



picture1.JPG

Figure 1 areas where DU expenditure have been used in Gulf War 1991.

 


Figure 2 represents a photo of the Iraqi army artilleries and vehicles destroyed on that highway by (DU) weaponry [12].

picture2.JPG

Figure 2: Iraqi army artilleries that have destroyed using DU on Highway

 

As stated previously, as soon as DU projectiles hit the target, it will ignite with a huge explosion that generates Depleted Uranium oxide aerosols. Mixing height of the aerosols in the atmosphere gets to 250m [13]. Area of Basrah War Zone and highway warzone [10] [14] were calculated to be around 2400km2. This area was the major continuous source of DU aerosols and contaminants to surrounding areas years to come.


Types of Depleted Uranium contaminants in the studied areas were:


1.         Destroyed tanks and artilleries.

2.         DU projectiles shells (exploded and unexploded)

3.         DU shrapnel’s (different sizes)

4.         Deposited DU particles

5.         Deposited DU oxide aerosols


Modeling mechanisms of spreading of DU pollutants from the source to surrounding populated areas were done by the Environmental Engineering department of Baghdad University [10] [14] [15]. The results of modeling spreading of pollutants through different environmental pathways to human population suggested that total calculated annual body dose received from DU aerosols inhalation pathway for the period from 1991-1996 in Basrah warzone was between 0.1768 Sv and 0.2309 Sv [10] (for a person both in normal or active duty respectively). Compared to normal background annual effective dose people should receive of 2.4 mSv only. In the highway warzone, these values came up to 0.4425 Sv and 0.577 Sv [14] respectively.

 

6.0 DU Contaminated Dust Storms In Iraq


Spreading and dispersion of DU contamination to surrounding areas also occurs through wind storms, dust storms, sandstorms, and rainstorms. Mechanisms of surface migration of DU radionuclide’s in soil include [16]:

-           Siltation, creeping, and suspension from contaminated soil to atmosphere.

-           Suspension and re-suspension of deposited DU aerosols are the most dangerous and critical pathway of transfer and spreading from source to the human population.


DU nano-particles through this mechanism stay suspended in the atmosphere for tens of days. With each dust storm a new DU attack on the civilians within populated cities occurs. Published data indicate a significant increase in the frequency of annual dust storms in both Iraq and Kuwait areas [17]. The first 8 months of 2009 witnessed 20 dust storms, as declared by the Iraqi Minister of Health [18]. Figures (3) and (4) show sites of these dust storms.


DU contaminated dust storms can be considered as new systematic attacks by USA armed forces, on civilians, since it adds an extra harmful radioactive dose received by the people internally and externally.


The USA and UK administrations should be held responsible for exposing a whole nation to the risk of continually receiving high radioactive and toxic persistent contaminants such as DU.


Cumulative effects of these additional doses add additional risk to residents of these areas. Intentional denial and cover up of the types, locations and amounts of DU ammunitions by the US and UK armed forces prevent Iraq from taking any precautionary measures to reduce exposure to additional radioactive doses.


To understand how persistent these pollutants are; Soil and dust samples from areas near NL Industries site in Colonie, NY, USA proved containing DU after more than 20 years of the closure of these DU manufacturing industries [19].


A total of 5 to 10 metric tons of DU dust and aerosols settled from air on soil, rooftops, and other surfaces near the plant during its operation. The plant was closed in 1984 and contaminated soil was removed. In 2006, twenty-two years later, dust samples that had been collected from residents in the area proved the existence of DU significantly above the clean up standard. People working near NL Industries also tested positive for DU in their bodies. Results of these tests are being published in the international journal “Science of the Total Environment” [20].


If we compare this case study with Basra DU contamination where (320 tons of DU * 0.65 in Iraqi territories * 0.6 aerosolized) we end up with about 114.80 metric tons of DU aerosols spreading through winds to huge inside Iraq and the Gulf countries’ areas, then pre-suspension of these contaminants to larger areas with each dust and sand storm that hits the area.


In 2003, it is estimated the US & UK armed forces used about (700-800) tons of DU [21]. The aerosolized portion of this amount is about 420 metric tons, a quantity large enough to cover the soil of the whole country after the dispersion of plumes with the previously mentioned mechanisms.

 

 

7.0 DU Contamination Casualties in Iraq:


Epidemiological studies in contaminated areas indicated a drastic rise in the incidences rate of malignancies amongst children to be far more noticeable from 1995 onward, namely a four times increase than prior to 1991, the distribution of this increase specifically in contaminated areas west of Basra City [22].


Moreover, the shift in Leukemia to younger children supports the criteria of biological plausibility specificity and is consistent with findings of correlating such incidents to exposure to ionized radiations [23].


Also a six fold increase in congenital malformations among births in Basra City since 1995 onward, have been registered [24]. Congenital heart diseases and chromosomal aberrations have been also reported.


Another crime of the occupation forces is the destruction of the evidence targeting the Iraqi research centers related to this issue.


Two decades of suffering, pain, and human life losses, the Minister of Environment in Iraq finally announced in 2007 the disaster of DU contamination in Iraq. She pointed out that more than 300 sites have been contaminated with these radioactive weapons [25]. She also called for the Japanese authorities and the international community to help Iraq with coping with the drastic increase of cancer incident rates [26].


To prove our case: Kuwait DU waste & wreckage from Gulf wars are shipped back to be dumped in USA.


After 18 years, Kuwait required US dept. of defense to remove the DU contaminated wreckage from their land [21]. Over 6,700 tons of contaminated soil, sand and other residues were collected and shipped back to the USA for burial by American Ecology at Bios, Idaho.


The US administration and pentagon officials still insist that DU has no significant health hazards, if so, why would they have to ship back their dirty radioactive wreckage back home from Kuwait?

 

8.0 Stand of the International Community on DU Weaponry


The Hague and Geneva conventions and its protocols and subsequent treaties clearly declare that weapons which cannot discriminate between civilians and military or combatants are prohibited from not only use but also from manufacture and sale [27].


The Nuremberg principles were incorporated into the Charter of the UN, a treaty which is supposed to be “Supreme Law” in the USA. When the American Administration ratified it, the 7th principle declares that “Complicity with a crime against Humanity is a war crime”.


UN resolutions since 1996 called DU weaponry “incompatible” (i.e. illegal) under existing humanitarian law and human rights [UN Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/27 and additions; E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/38 and E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/35] [28].


Uranium radiation hazards are covered up and misrepresented through the obsolete models of risk and derived standards of allowable exposure set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).


This model was derived from invalid assumptions due to secrecy and cover up about the health effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs then, around the cold war developments of nuclear power and weapons [28].


The ICRP risk model was built from studies of the atomic bomb survivors, which overlooked the effects from the internal radiation source and ignored cancer that in some cases takes decades to appear.


It was certainly developed before the DNA and the human genome knowledge existed the way it does to date.


Cover-ups and deception are expected from American and UK administrations the perpetrators of all radiological wars and illegal weapons, which should face liability for war crimes, military and civilian casualties, as well as contamination of the environment.


The US has refused to disclose information about DU during the invasion military operations of Iraq in 2003, and did not let UNEP team study DU contamination Iraq [29].


With the great efforts of anti-nuclear weapons groups, NGO, peace organizations and international figures, the call of these organizations to ban the all Uranium weapons, including DU, have earned very good momentum especially among the NATO countries.


-           On March 23rd, 2007, the Belgian Chamber Commission on National Defense voted unanimously in favor of banning the use of DU ammunitions and armor plates [30].

-           On November 1, 2008, a UN committee passed a resolution with an overwhelming majority, highlighting concerns over the military use of Uranium. The resolution entitled “Effects of the use of armaments and ammunitions containing Depleted Uranium 1” urges the UN member states to re-examine the health hazards posted by the use of Uranium weapons [31].

-           Another historic sentence was pronounced on January 13, 2009 by a court in Florence, Italy asking the Italian Ministry of Defense to compensate Gianbattista Marica with Euro 545,061, a parachutist who was deployed in Somalia for eight months in 1993. The sentence is very important because it states “the casual link between the presence of depleted uranium and the illness (cancer) of the Soldier” [32]. The courts statement includes the report of technical consultant who maintains that there is a causal link between the Hodgkin Lymphoma developed by the soldier and the exposure to DU.

-           In September 2009, a British jury at Smethwick Council House ruled that DU was likely cause of death of Gulf War veteran Stuart Dysan in June 2008. Dyson had been a Lance Corporal with the Royal Pioneer Corps and had cleaned tanks after the 1991 Gulf War. He developed colon cancer that killed him last year [33].

The European Parliament on 22nd of May 2008 passed its fourth resolution against the use Uranium weapons. MEP’s have called for EU and NATO-wide moratorium and global ban [29].

 

9.0 Concluding Remarks:


1. The US and UK administrations have been using Depleted Uranium weapons against the civilian population and the environment of Iraq since 1991.


2. Laboratory studies and scientific evidence prove the link and causal relationship between exposure to Depleted Uranium and the increased risk of inducing neurodegenerative diseases, immune and hormonal system damage, initiation or promotion of cancer, Tetratogenic Toxicity which causes mental retardation and congenital malformations, miscarriages, and sterility.


3. Intentional denial and refusal of the US and UK administrations to release any information about the types, locations, and amounts of DU weapons that have been used against Iraq have caused additional radioactive doses, and health damages to the people in contaminated areas. Both administrations should be held responsible for this crime.


4. The drastic increase of cancer incidences in Iraq since 1995 to date and the DU related diseases like congenital malformation, miscarriages, etc, are all attributed to the use of prohibited weapons including Depleted Uranium.


5. DU contaminated areas all over the country are continuous source of radioactive pollution. Without cleaning and other measures, resuspension of these contaminants with each dust and sand storm can be considered as systematic attacks by the US and UK armies on civilians in an armed conflict.


This is a crime against humanity to its undifferentiated harmful health impacts on civilians long times to come after the military operations (Article 4 of the official regulations and Article 7 of ICC).


Notes


1. Simon Helweg-Larsen, "Irregular Weapons Used against Iraq". ZNET http://www.znet.org/welser.htm ,April 2003

2. Sarah Meyer. “What Kind of Incendiary Bomb Was Used Against People in Iraq” http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=1226  November 14, 2005.

3. Steven D. "US Army Admits Use of White Phosphorus as Weapon". Daily KOS.

4. Scott Peterson Remains of Toxic Bullets Litter Iraq, May 18, 2003, Christian Science Monitor.

5. Rita Hindin, Doug Brugge, and Bindu Panikkar, "Teratogenicity of Depleted Uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective " Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source 2005. http://www.ehjournal.net/info/instructions/

6. Rosali Bertell "Depleted Uranium: All the questions about DU and Gulf War Syndrome are not yet answered". International Journal of Health Service 36(3), 503-520, 2006

7. Alexandra C. Miller, Mike Stewart, Rafael Rivas, Robert Marlot, and Paul Lison, "Depleted Uranium" internal contamination: Carcinogenisis and Leukeinogenisis in Vivo. Proc. Am Assoc Cancer Res. Volume 46, 2005.

8. Chroder, H. et al. "Chromosome aberration analysis in peripheral lymphocytes of Gulf War and Balkans War veterans". Radiation Prot. Dosimetry. Vol. 103(3) 2003 (PP. 211-219).

9. Ammash, H., Alwan, L., and Maarouf, B.,”Genetic hematological study for a selected population from DU contaminated areas in Basra.” Proceeding of the conference on the effects of the use of DU weapons on human and environment in Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq 2002.

10. Al-Azzawi, S. N. and Al-Naemi, A. "Assessment of radiological doses and risks resulted from DU contamination in Basrah war zone." Proceeding of the conference on the effects of the use of DU

11. Gulf War Resource Center "Primary Areas of DU Expenditure", USA, 1999.

12. Turnley, P.; News Week Magazine; (January-20), 1992.

13. Neboysha, L. "Environmental Impact on Humans During the Gulf War", Communications between Professor Neboysha and Professor Sharma, 1999.

14. Al-Azzawi, S., and Al Naemi, A., 2002, “Assessment of radiological doses and risks resulted from DU contamination in the highway war zone in Al-Basra governorate”, proceedings of the conference on the effects of the use of DU weaponry on human and environment in Iraq, March 26-27 2002, Baghdad, Iraq.

15. Al-Azzawi, S. et al, “ Environmental Pollution Resulting from the Use of Depleted Uranium Weaponry Against Iraq During 1991, World International Conference on DU, Hamburg, Germany, 2003 http://www.grassrootspeace.org/wuwc_reader2_science.pdf  - p.41

16. Al-Heli, W.M. “Effects of DU Weapons on Air and Soil Pollution in Southern Iraq”, M.Sc. Thesis in Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad, Iraq. 1998.

17. Draxler R. R., et al, “Estimating PM10 Air concentrations from Dust storms in Iraq, Kuwait and Kingdom Saudi Arabia. Atmospheric Environment” vol35:4115-4330.

18. Middle East Online, "Draught steals Iraqi's nutrition", September 1st 2009

19. ICBUW, "Robert shows New Yorkers Contaminated with DU over 20 years after exposure" http://www.banddepleteduranium.org/  

20. William, D. “Hazards of Uranium Weapons in the Proposed War on Iraq” full report.. The Eos life resources center. Oct, 2002.

21. ICBUW, "Statement by the DU positive testees" http://www.banddepleteduranium.org/  

22. Yaqoub, A., et.al., 1999, “Depleted Uranium and health of people in Basrah: an epidemiological evidence; 1-The incidence and pattern of malignant diseases among children in Basrah with specific reference to leukemia during the period of 1990-1998”, the medical journal of Basrah University (MJBU), vol.17, no.1&2, 1999, Basrah, Iraq.

23. Yaqoub, A., Ajeel, N., and Al-Wiswasy, M., 1998, “Incidence and pattern of malignant diseases (excluding leukemia) during 1990-1997”, Proceeding of the conference on health and environmental consequences of DU used by U.S. and British forces in the 1991 Gulf War, Dec. 2-3, 1998, Baghdad, Iraq. http://www.irak.be/ned/archief/Depleted%20Uranium_bestanden/DEPLETED%20URANIUM-3-%20INCIDENCE.htm  

24. Al-Sadoon, I., Hassan, J., and Yaqoub, A., 1998, “Incidence and pattern of congenital anomalies among birth in Basrah during the period 1990-1998”, Proceeding of the conference on health and environmental consequences of DU used by U.S. and British forces in the 1991 Gulf War, Dec. 2-3, 1998. http://www.irak.be/ned/archief/Depleted%20Uranium_bestanden/DEPLETED%20URANIUM-1-%20INCIDENCE.htm  

25.  RIA Novoski "Iraqis blame US depleted Uranium for surge in cancer"

26.  Tokyo Newspapers "Iraqi Minister of Environment Appeals to Japanese Government for Assistance in Dealing with DU contmination". September 10th 2008 http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp  

27. Proceeding of World Uranium weapons conference 2003, Hamburg, Germany. Page 192

28. Protr Bein "Uranium Weapons cover-ups in our midst". Proceedings of world Uranium Weapons conference, 2003, Hamburg, Germany.

29. David Goliath "The Adversary's Tactics and Effectiveness". Proceedings of world conference, 2003 Hamburg, Germany, Page 204.

30. William Van Den Panhuysen. "Belgium Bans Uranium Weapons and Armor". ISBUW, March 24, 2007.

31. ICBUW, "UN First Committee Passes DU Resolution in Landslide Vote" Nov. , 2007 http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/  

32. Stefania Divertito "Historic sentence in Florence, Italian court recognizes the link between cancer and Depleted Uranium". 13th Jan. 2009 http://www.peaclink.it  

33. ICBUW, DU was a likely cause of dead Gulf Veteran's cancer". Sept. 11, 2009 http://www.bandepleteduranium.org  

34. ICBUW "European Parliament passes far reaching DU resolution in landslide vote", May 22, 2008. http://www.bandepleteduranium.org 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=15966
http://www.internationalnews.fr/article-depleted-uranium-the-responsibility-of-the-us-in-contaminating-iraq-39413021.html

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2 novembre 2009 1 02 /11 /novembre /2009 09:57
CounterPunch
October 20, 2009

By Dave LINDORFF

 


The horrors of the US Agent Orange campaign in Vietnam, about which I wrote on Oct. 15, could ultimately be dwarfed by the horrors of the depleted uranium weapons which the US began using in the 1991 Gulf War (300 tons), and which it used much more extensively, and in more urban,  populated areas, in the Iraq War and the now intensifying Afghanistan War.


Depleted uranium, despite it’s rather benign sounding name, is not depleted of radioactivity or toxicity. The term depleted refers to its being depleted of the U-235 isotope needed for fission reactions in nuclear reactors.  The nuclear waster material from nuclear power plants, DU as it is known, is essentially composed of the uranium isotope U-238 as well as U-236 (a product of nuclear reactor fission, not found in nature), as well as other trace radioactive elements. It turns out to be an ideal metal for a number of weapons uses, and has been capitalized on by the Pentagon. 1.7 times heavier than lead, and much harder than steel, and with the added property of burning at a super-hot temperature, DU has proven to be an ideal penetrator for warheads that need to pierce thick armor or dense concrete bunkers made of reinforced concrete and steel. 


Accordingly it has found its way into 30 mm machine gun ammunition, especially that used by the A-10 Warthog ground-attack fighter planes used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan (as well as Kosovo). It is also the warhead of choice for Abrams tanks and is also reportedly used in GBU-28 and the later GBU-37 bunker buster bombs. DU is also used as ballast in cruise missiles, and thus burns up when they detonate their conventional explosives.  Some cruise missiles are also designed to hit hardened targets and reportedly feature DU warheads, as does the AGM-130 air-to-ground missile, which carries a one-ton penetrating warhead.


While the Pentagon has continued to claim, against all scientific evidence, there is no hazard posed by depleted uranium, US troops in Iraq have reportedly been instructed to avoid any sites where these weapons have been used—destroyed Iraqi tanks, exploded bunkers, etc.


Suspiciously, international health officials have been prevented from doing medical studies of DU sites.  A series of articles several years ago by the Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0515/p01s02-woiq.html) described how reporters from that newspaper had visited such sites with Geiger-counters and had found them to be extremely “hot” with radioactivity.  The big danger with DU is not as a metal, but after it has exploded and burned, when the particles of uranium oxide, which are just as radioactive as the pure isotopes, can be inhaled or injested. Even the smallest particle of uranium is both deadly poisonous as a chemical, and can cause cancer.


There are reports of a dramatic increase in the incidence of deformed babies being born in the city of Fallujah, where DU weapons were in wide use during the November 2004 assault on that city by US Marines. 


But the real impact of the first heavy use of depleted uranium weaponry in populous urban environments will come over the years, as the toxic legacy of this latest American war crime begins to show up in rising numbers of cancers, birth defects and other genetic disorders in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Dave Lindorff  is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and now available in paperback). He can be reached at dlindorff@mindspring.com

 

http://www.counterpunch.org

Url of this article: http://www.internationalnews.fr/article-depleted-uranium-weapons-dead-babies-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-no-joke-38552151.html


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Depleted Uranium/Uranium appauvri

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11 octobre 2009 7 11 /10 /octobre /2009 18:51
 Internationalnews
German documentary exposes radioactive warfare in Iraq.  

"T

(photo of Dr. Siegwart-Horst Günther with Iraqi mother and children © 2004 Telepool.)


An award winning (2004) documentary film produced for German television by Freider Wagner and Valentin Thurn. The film exposes the use and impact of radioactive weapons during the 1st war against Iraq. The story is told by citizens of many nations. It opens with comments by two British veterans, Kenny Duncan and Jenny Moore, describing their exposure to radioactive, so-called depleted uranium (DU), weapons and the congenital abnormalities of their children. Dr. Siegwart-Horst Gunther, a former colleague of Albert Schweitzer, and Tedd Weyman of the Uranium Medical Research Center (UMRC) traveled to Iraq, from Germany and Canada respectively, to assess uranium contamination in Iraq.
Written by Tedd Weyman,
leader of Uranium Medical Research Centre investigative team that gathered samples for analysis.
Weyman led the investigative team that gathered samples for analysis for the UMRC– http://www.umrc.net He discusses startling findings of the 2003 field investigations in Iraq. "The human and environmental samples have been found to contain depleted uranium and abnormally high levels of the artificial transuranic isotope, 236U. ... Viewers will see in the film, evidence of a new class of uranium weapons." These include "bunker defeat" bombs.

As an M.D., Dr. Günther is especially interested in the health effects that can be caused by such contamination. At a hospital in Basra, Dr. Jenan Hassan revealed an on-going health catastrophe--a ten-fold increase in cancers and a twenty-fold increase in congenital deformities. The grisly realities of the cancer ward provide an appropriate alarm that could help to stop the use of these weapons unless it can be shown they will not harm civilians for generations to come. 
http://www.grassrootspeace.org/depleted_uranium_iraq.html


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18 juin 2009 4 18 /06 /juin /2009 04:00
Mondialisation.ca
Le 6 avril 2009

Par Vesna Peric Zimonjic

Quelque 15 tonne d’uranium appauvri, renforçant plus de 50.000 bombes et missiles, ont été larguées durant les 11 semaines de bombardements de la Serbie en 1999. Les cibles des bombardements de l'Organisation du Traité Atlantique Nord (OTAN) consistaient en 116 sites, surtout au sud de la Serbie et dans la région du Kosovo.


L'uranium appauvri est mis au bout des bombes pour percer le blindage des chars et des véhicules militaires lourds. Bien que sa radioactivité soit affaiblie dans le procédé de production, l'uranium demeure hautement toxique.

 

Les experts sont en désaccord sur les impacts pour la santé de l'uranium appauvri. Quelques-uns disent que les aérosols produits par l'impact et la combustion de l'uranium appauvri des munitions peut provoquer le cancer et affecter les reins, le cerveau, le foie et le cœur. Mais certaines études n’ont trouvé aucune impact significatif sur la santé ou l'environnement.

 

Le Programme Environnemental des Nations Unies (UNEP) a envoyé une mission seulement en 2000. Elle s’est focalisée sur 11 sites du Kosovo, et a conclu qu'il n'y avait « pas de contamination importante détectable de la surface du sol par de l'uranium appauvri. Un certain nombre de points de contamination ont été identifiés par la mission, mais la plupart d'entre eux n’ont été jugés que légèrement contaminés. »

 

En 2001, un rapport de l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) aboutissait à une conclusion similaire. Toutefois, l’expert britannique Keith Bavestock, qui faisait partie de l'équipe de l'OMS, a déclaré au quotidien de Belgrade Politika que « toutes les données dont disposait l'OMS n’avaient pas été incluses dans le rapport. Ça ne signifie pas que le rapport est faux ; il est incomplet. »

 

Les médecins locaux ont leurs propres données.

 

Nebojsa Srbljak, un médecin de la ville de Mitrovica au Kosovo, qui a toujours une grande population serbe, a parlé d'une multiplication par dix des cas de leucémie. Il a déclaré aux envoyés des médias : « Le taux des leucémies chez l’enfant au Kosovo était de un pour mille avant 1999. Depuis 1999, il est passé à un pour cent. »

 

Le Dr. Srbljak, qui aide dans une clinique de cancérologie de Pristina, la capitale du Kosovo, a déclaré que les médecins albanais lui ont dit aussi qu'il y avait « une augmentation importante » du nombre de patients atteints de cancers depuis 1999. "Dans l'ensemble du Kosovo, a-t-il dit, le taux de cancer avant 1999 était de 10 pour 300.000, et « aujourd'hui, il s'élève à 20 pour 60.000. »

 

« C'est désormais une tumeur par jour que nous découvrons » a dit le radiologue Vlastimir Cvetkovic à Inter Press Service. « Avant 1999, c’était une tous les trois mois. Et ce n'est pas juste dû à l’amélioration des diagnostics, car nos moyens de travail sont restés modestes. En outre, c’est maintenant chez les plus jeunes et les enfants que nous trouvons nos patients. »

 

Une augmentation alarmante des cas de cancer a aussi été enregistrée en Bosnie-Herzégovine voisine, où, en début 1995, de l’uranium appauvri a été utilisé par l'OTAN contre les forces serbes de Bosnie. Selon les chiffres officiels, plus de 300 personnes de Hadzici et Han Pijesak, dans le voisinage de Sarajevo à l'est de la Bosnie, sont mortes du cancer de 1996 à 2000. Hadzici était habitée et tenue par les Serbes de Bosnie pendant la guerre. Elle est passée plus tard sous la juridiction gouvernementale croato-musulmane centrale de Sarajevo.

 

« C'est un très grand nombre » a déclaré à Inter Press Service le médecin local Slavica Jovanovic. « Mais il semble que ce soit un sujet que personne ne veuille aborder. La population de Hadzici devrait être réinstallée ailleurs, et, au niveau de la Bosnie-Herzégovine, il n'y a pas la volonté de s’embarquer là-dedans. »

 

Des problèmes de santé liés à l’uranium appauvri ont été signalés chez les soldats italiens qui ont servi au maintien de la paix en Bosnie et au Kosovo. Plusieurs sont morts du cancer et leurs familles se démènent aujourd'hui pour prouver que travailler et vivre à côté de zones contaminées par de l’uranium appauvri a été démontré fatal.

 

Pour les autorités serbes, les problèmes de l’uranium appauvri semblent aussi loin que le Kosovo, malgré le fait que quelque 100.000 Serbes vivent encore là-bas, près de la ville divisée de Mitrovica pour la plupart d'entre eux.

 

Milan Mišović, chef du Département de la Médecine du Travail de l'Académie de Médecine Militaire, a déclaré à des médias serbes : « Quelque 4.000 anciens combattants font l'objet d'une surveillance constante car ils se sont trouvés à 50 mètres du point d'impact de munitions à l'uranium appauvri. Jusqu'à présent, le cancer ne progresse pas parmi eux. Mais on peut s’attendre à certains changements dans les prochains 10 à 15 ans. »



Article original en anglais : Fallout of Serbia Bombing 'Continues to Kill' , le 27 mars 2009.

Traduction: Pétrus Lombard.


Photo: Autre conséquence de l'uranium appauvri: les malformations chez les nouveaux-nés (ici en Iraq)



http://www.mondialisation.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13073
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24 mai 2009 7 24 /05 /mai /2009 02:00

ACDN



« Plomb durci » : des tonnes d’uranium appauvri et d’autres produits cancérigènes ont été  déversées sur la bande de Gaza


 

 

 

 

22 mai 2009


Du 27 décembre 2008 au 18 janvier 2009, l’armée israélienne a conduit dans la bande de Gaza une opération aérienne et terrestre baptisée « Plomb durci ».


Dès les premiers jours, le Dr Mads Gilbert, chirurgien norvégien en service humanitaire à l’hôpital de Shifa, dénonçait la présence de matières radioactives dans le corps des blessés, possiblement de l’Uranium Appauvri. Le 4 janvier 2009, après enquête, l’Action des Citoyens pour le Désarmement Nucléaire (ACDN) alertait la presse et l’opinion :
« A Gaza, le génocide à l’Uranium appauvri a commencé, avec les bombes GBU-39 fournies par les Etats-Unis ».


Cette accusation est sortie renforcée de plusieurs mois d’enquête menée en liaison étroite avec les intéressés et avec l’aide de Jean-François Fechino, consultant en pollutions diffuses et expert auprès du Programme des Nations Unies pour l’Environnement (PNUE). ACDN vient de produire un rapport de 33 pages et Annexes qui conclut à la présence hautement probable de dizaines de tonnes d’Uranium appauvri (peut-être jusqu’à 75 tonnes) dans le sol et le sous-sol de Gaza.


En avril 2009, une mission de 4 personnes dont Jean-François Fechino s’est rendue à Gaza sous l’égide de la Commission Arabe des Droits Humains. Les échantillons de terre et de poussières rapportés de Gaza ont ensuite été soumis à l’analyse d’un laboratoire spécialisé. Celui-ci y a trouvé de l’Uranium Appauvri (radioactif, cancérigène, tératogène), du Césium (radioactif, cancérigène) peut-être originaire de Tchernobyl, de la poussière d’amiante (cancérigène), des Composés Organiques Volatils (fines particules dangereuses pour la santé, surtout celle des enfants, des asthmatiques et des vieillards), des phosphates (oxydation du phosphore blanc), du tungstène (cancérigène), du cuivre, de l’alumine (cancérigène), de l’Oxyde de Thorium (ThO2) (radioactif)...


Les résultats détaillés seront bientôt rendus publics. Les journalistes et les personnes souhaitant en savoir plus peuvent se mettre en rapport avec ACDN par Internet
contact@acdn.net ou visiter son site www.acdn.net.


Action des Citoyens pour le Désarmement Nucléaire (ACDN)
Photo:  www.spiderednews.com
http://www.acdn.net/

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