HL Deb 02 March 1998 vol 586 cc147-8WA
The Countess of Mar

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they accept that, while uranium-238 is only slightly radioactive, its isotopes emit alpha particles which, if ingested or inhaled, may cause health problems after a long period of latency. [HL474]

Lord Gilbert

Uranium-238 is one of the three isotopes of uranium, all of which are sources of alpha particles. The health effects that may result from taking uranium-238 into the body depend not only on the route of entry, but also on the quantity and solubility of the uranium involved. The health effects of exposure to depleted uranium, which is around 99 per cent uranium-238, are summarised in a report produced by DERA Radiation Protection Services,Radiological and Chemical Hazards of Depleted Uranium (DRPS Report No. 13/93), a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. This report concludes that "The only clinical signs or symptoms from exposure to DU would arise if it was inhaled as a soluble compound or spilled on the skin. These would be transient kidney damage or skin irritation".

The Countess of Mar

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether a trapped, single uranium oxide particle smaller than 5 micron in diameter can be measured in the body and whether they consider that any British troops may have inhaled one or more particles of uranium oxide during Operation Granby. [HL476]

Lord Gilbert

A single particle of uranium oxide having a diameter of 5 microns will contain less than 0.000018 Becquerels of radioactivity. This is well below the limit of detection of even the most sensitive methods of personal monitoring, including bioassay. The radiation dose associated with such a small quantity or radioactivity, by whichever route it is taken into the body, is infinitesimally small. For comparison, the annual limit of intake for uranium-238, for a member of the public, as specified by the International Committee for Radiological Protection, equates to breathing in a mass of approximately 8 mg of depleted uranium, which would contain 200 Becquerels of radioactivity. This is more than 10 million times greater than that contained in a single particle of uranium-238 with a diameter of 5 microns.

Soils, including those in desert areas, contain measurable quantities of naturally occurring uranium, which normally exist in oxide form. These oxides inevitably get suspended into the atmosphere by the action of the wind and other disturbing influences, to be breathed in by anyone in the vicinity. British troops will, therefore, undoubtedly have inhaled such particles of natural uranium oxide during Operation Granby.