Monday, May 12, 2008
Did exposure to American depleted-uranium-tipped weapons cause the cancer deaths of some European peacekeepers who served in the Balkans?
Jan 12, 2001 | Did exposure to depleted-uranium-tipped weapons dropped by the United States during NATO's Yugoslavia bombing campaigns cause the cancer deaths of 19 European peacekeepers serving in the Balkans?
The science says probably not. But a wave of panic in Europe over the deaths -- the latest, of an Italian peacekeeper who served in Bosnia, occurred last week -- has given psychological credence to what Europeans newspapers are calling "Balkans syndrome."
Like its Gulf War precedent, "Balkans syndrome" is the catchall phrase Europeans use for the unexplained illnesses and cancers that about a dozen NATO peacekeepers serving in Bosnia and Kosovo have been stricken with. As occurred after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, some blame the illnesses on exposure to depleted-uranium-tipped munitions. The United States used the special armor-piercing weapons for the first time in the Gulf War, and then again in Bosnia and Kosovo.
So far, two Portuguese, two Spaniards, five Belgians, four Dutch and six Italians who served in the Balkans have died of cancer, as many as 14 of them from leukemia. A seventh Italian who handled the same type of munitions in Italy but wasn't on the ground in the Balkans, and a Czech military pilot, have also died of cancer. In addition to those who have died, four French, four Belgian and two Spanish peacekeepers are now being treated for cancer, and 23 Italian soldiers are being treated for other illnesses. Further, the Norwegian media reports several leukemia cases among Norway's soldiers.
But looked at statistically, the deaths do not constitute overwhelming evidence of Balkans syndrome. The six Italians who died of cancer make up only a handful of the more than 75,000 Italian troops who have served in the Balkans. According to the World Health Organization, the normal incidence of leukemia among men in Italy is 13 out of 100,000, about the same rate.
Experts with the WHO said this week they doubt radiation from D.U.-tipped weapons was responsible for the peacekeepers' cancers. "Based on our studies, and the evidence we have, it is unlikely that soldiers in Kosovo ran a high risk of contracting leukemia from exposure to radiation from depleted uranium," WHO official Michael Repacholi said at a press conference in Geneva Monday. A WHO survey found that the incidence of leukemia among troops in Kosovo actually decreased slightly in 2000 compared with '97 and '98.
More "detailed surveys are needed before better conclusions can be made," added WHO policy advisor Daniel Tarantola. But while the United Nations agency downplayed the link between the peacekeepers' leukemia and D.U.-generated radiation, Tarantola added, "Breathing ultrafine particles could lead to a theoretical risk of cancer."
The Pentagon, which introduced the D.U.-tipped munitions in its stockpiles in in the 1970s, under the watch of then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, says its extensive studies of the health risks of these weapons have failed to turn up evidence of a link between the weapons and soldiers' illnesses.
"We are not aware of any U.S. soldiers suffering from any unknown illnesses as a result of serving in Kosovo," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Phillips said Thursday. "We remain convinced based upon evidence gathered that the use of depleted-uranium munitions does not pose significant or residual environmental or health risks to service members or civilians."
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