§ Jeremy CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what studies have been undertaken of the effects of the use of depleted uranium during the Gulf War of 1991 on(a) coalition forces, (b) Iraqi forces and (c) Iraqi civilians. [100277]
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§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 3 March 2003]: Many independent reports have been produced that consider the battlefield effects of using depleted uranium (DU) munitions, but none has found widespread DU contamination sufficient to impact the health of the general population or deployed personnel. These include work by the US RAND Corporation, the US Institute of Medicine, the Royal Society, the European Commission, the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The two Royal Society reports on "The Health Hazards of Depleted Uranium Munitions" (2001, 2002) support the Ministry of Defence's view that risks to the health of soldiers on the battlefield are minimal except for a small number of extreme cases.
Under the auspices of the independent Depleted Uranium Oversight Board, a test for DU in urine is currently being developed and we aim to make it available to all those who wish to be tested later this year. In parallel with this, we will also carry out an epidemiological study which will examine the link between exposure to DU and health.
No UK troops who served in the Gulf experienced the highest level of DU. However, thirty-three US soldiers were highly exposed when their vehicles were accidentally hit by DU rounds. Consequently, seventeen of them have retained embedded DU shrapnel for the last twelve years. The health of this group is closely monitored by the US Government and so far they do not show signs of health problems attributable to DU.
At the end of August 2001, the World Health Organisation (WHO) despatched a technical team to Baghdad to establish specific projects to explore areas of health concern in Iraq. These discussions, carried out in an atmosphere of full collaboration and co-operation with the Iraqis, culminated in four project proposals covering health surveillance of cancers, health surveillance of congenital malformations and renal diseases, studies to explore health effects of environmental risk factors (including DU) and an implementation plan for cancer control. The WHO sent details of the proposals to the Iraq Ministry of Health in the last quarter of 2001, but a response is still awaited.
Meanwhile, WHO has contracted the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm to complete the first phase of extensive epidemiological studies to investigate environmental factors that may lead to increased incidences of various cancers. The first meeting to schedule and detail the studies has been called for mid-March. The Iraqis will participate in the studies, in full collaboration with these institutes.