HWN Suggests

Deadly Ore

As early as the end of the Middle Ages, the term “Schnee­berger lung disease” was well known. Workers from mines in the German Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) around Schneeberg suffered from this disease. At the time, nobody had an explanation for the many mysterious deaths. Today we know that it was lung cancer – caused by radon and uranium dust. When uranium and its radioactive decay products disintegrate, alpha, beta and gamma radiation is emitted. Ionizing radiation can kill affected body cells. If the cells survive, their genetic material can be damaged. These diseased cells transmit the damaged genetic material to their “descendants”, so that, even decades later, malignant tumors may occur.…

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Featured

 The sinister history of America's 'uranium gold rush'

The success of the Manhattan Project sent demand for uranium skyrocketing, and enterprising prospectors went out West in search of an overnight fortune. But many were exposed to lethal radiation in the mines.

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Articles of Interest

Everything you need to know about uranium

Since the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth identified uranium in 1789, atomic number 92 has become one of the most troubling substances on the planet. It’s naturally radioactive, but its isotope uranium-235 also happens to be fissile, as Nazi nuclear chemists learned in 1938, when they did the impossible and split a uranium nucleus in two. American physicists at U.C. Berkeley were soon to discover they could force uranium-238 to decay into plutonium-239; the substance has since been used in weapons and power plants around the world. Today, the element continues to stoke international tensions as Iran stockpiles uranium in defiance of an earlier treaty, and North Korea’s “Rocket Man” leader Kim Jong-un continues to resist denuclearization.

Uranium’s hazardous effects on humans and recent developments in treatment

Uranium, a naturally occurring element, is predominantly recognized for its role as fuel in both civilian and military energy sectors. Concerns have been raised regarding the adverse environmental impacts and health risks associated with uranium mining due to the exposure it causes. Such exposure leads to systemic toxicity, affecting pulmonary, hepatic, renal, reproductive, neurological, and bone health.

'We didn't know we were poisoning ourselves': the deadly legacy of the US uranium boom

The Diné helped dig the raw materials to build the US’s nuclear arsenal, but were never told of the danger.

America’s Terrible History of Depleted Uranium

The United States has left its mark on Iraq in myriad ways in its two wars in the Persian Gulf, but one of the least-discussed is the effects of the US military’s use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions. DU is a munitions designer’s dream: projectiles using DU alloys are armor-piercing and incendiary, which means it’s ideal for obliterating and burning tanks and other armored vehicles. But its use has left the Gulf’s battlefields blanketed with radioactive material.

Depleted uranium munitions: what are they and what risks do they pose?

Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the process to create the rarer, enriched uranium used in nuclear fuel and weapons. Although less radioactive than enriched uranium and ordinarily incapable of generating a nuclear reaction, depleted uranium is extremely dense – more dense than lead – a quality that makes it highly attractive as a projectile.

Fearing toxic waste, Greenland ended uranium mining. Now, they could be forced to restart - or pay $11bn

The range is home to one of the largest undeveloped deposits of rare-earth minerals and uranium in the world: the Kvanefjeld site, or Kuannersuit in Greenlandic. It contains high concentrations of metals such as terbium and neodymium, which are used to manufacture permanent magnets in wind turbines and electric cars. Every major power in the world is scrambling to get access to these minerals for carbon-free energy and transport.

For The Navajo Nation, Uranium Mining's Deadly Legacy Lingers

The federal government is cleaning up a long legacy of uranium mining within the Navajo Nation — some 27,000 square miles spread across Utah, New Mexico and Arizona that is home to more than 250,000 people. Many Navajo people have died of kidney failure and cancer, conditions linked to uranium contamination. And new research from the CDC shows uranium in babies born now.

Fungi transform depleted uranium into chemically stable minerals

Depleted uranium is what’s left over after ‘enrichment’, when uranium-235 is separated from natural uranium. This isotope is suitable for nuclear reactors and weapons, and the remainder consists of uranium-238, a less radioactive isotope with a longer half-life. This “depleted uranium” is valued by the military for its high density and is often combined with titanium to produce an alloy used in both armour-piercing weapons and defensive plating. But penetrating rounds aren’t the only potential threat to human health posed by depleted uranium. The substance is still radioactive, can cause heavy metal poisoning and burn spontaneously on impact to produce aerosols of uranium compounds. These potential risks have been downplayed by many reports but they make the use of depleted uranium in munitions highly controversial, especially when locals have to deal with traces that litter the landscape after battle ceases.

Health Effects of Depleted Uranium

Depleted uranium is still used today for both civilian and military applications. However, studies suggest that prolonged exposure to the chemical and radiological toxicities of DU may have severe health effects. Though DU may be hazardous to humans at very high levels, more studies need to be conducted to definitively conclude the precise health consequences of DU at more moderate levels.

Health Effects of Uranium

People can come in contact with uranium, radiation, or both on the Navajo Nation by spending time at abandoned uranium mines, living in a home that was built with material from a mine or mill site, drinking unregulated water, or not following good water hauling practices. Everyone comes in contact with low levels of uranium because it’s in the environment. But coming in contact with higher levels of uranium can be harmful to your health.

Potential Human Health Effects of Uranium Mining, Processing, and Reclamation

Protracted exposure to radon decay products generally represents the greatest radiation-related health risk from uranium-related mining and processing operations. Radon’s alpha-emitting radioactive decay products are strongly and causally linked to lung cancer in humans. Indeed, the populations in which this has been most clearly established are uranium miners that were occupationally exposed to radon.

The Health Impacts of Uranium Mining in Native American Communities

In the late 19th century, Uranium’s radioactive properties were discovered after mining for the heavy metal began on an increasingly large scale in Europe in order to study radium. 1 By World War II, uranium mining was a booming industry in the United States, particularly on or near tribal lands. The extensive negative health impacts and need for safety measures and protections for uranium workers were already well documented and even legislated in some European countries.2 However, for decades, Native American uranium miners, millers, and their families were not informed of the growing research warning of severe long-term risks to their physical health and communities’ well-being.

Uranium and Radium in Groundwater and Incidence of Colorectal Cancer in Georgia Counties, USA: An Ecologic Study

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly occurring cancer in the United States, with higher incidence rates among Black populations. Groundwater concentrations of natural radionuclides uranium and radium have seldom been investigated in relation to CRC despite their known carcinogenicity.

Uranium mining and health

The energy needs of our society are becoming a challenge. One energy source, nuclear power, is entirely dependent on uranium. Increasingly, physicians are opposing the mining of uranium. In the 1980s, family physician Dr Robert Woollard led a task force that resulted in a provincial moratorium on uranium mining in British Columbia.