DU ammo is not as bad as the post makes out, or indeed, nowhere near a nuclear escalation the way Russia was saying. DU is almost entirely U-238, which has a half-life of 4.4 billion years and who’s decay mode is only alpha particles that do not penetrate human skin. It is still highly toxic as a heavy metal and will kill you if you ingest it (heavy metal poisoning). Alpha particles are still dangerous when ingested and thus beneath your skin already, but heavy metal poisoning would probably get you first. I think it is doubtful that the amount of DU ammunition is even remotely large enough to seriously cause ecological damage, as it is so dilute from the large geographical area. Other chemical releases from warfare are also very bad, but again, dilute enough in this case (e.g. not ridiculous like Vietnam and Laos) that the ecological damage is limited.
Radioactive materials are more dangerous when the half-life is shorter, because a short half-life means they release more particles and decay faster. This is part of why Iodine-131 is such a concern, because beta particles do penetrate human skin, and it is highly radioactive with a half-life of just over 8 days. It also gets absorbed easily by your thyroid, which is part of the reason why potassium iodide is added to salt as it prevents this absorption. Obviously gamma radiation and X-rays are still much worse, because they are very difficult to stop and will go right through you, but U-238 is never going to generate those on its own.
I am also a comrade, but I don’t think that DU rounds in Ukraine is such a big deal. If you have any evidence to the contrary I’d love to hear it.
Tell that to the Iraqi children born with birth defects because of the DU rounds left there by the US 30 years ago. The worry isn’t “It will make the whole country uninhabitable” but “It will cause additional cancers and birth defects in the population living there.”
DU ammo is not as bad as the post makes out, or indeed, nowhere near a nuclear escalation the way Russia was saying. DU is almost entirely U-238, which has a half-life of 4.4 billion years and who’s decay mode is only alpha particles that do not penetrate human skin. It is still highly toxic as a heavy metal and will kill you if you ingest it (heavy metal poisoning). Alpha particles are still dangerous when ingested and thus beneath your skin already, but heavy metal poisoning would probably get you first. I think it is doubtful that the amount of DU ammunition is even remotely large enough to seriously cause ecological damage, as it is so dilute from the large geographical area. Other chemical releases from warfare are also very bad, but again, dilute enough in this case (e.g. not ridiculous like Vietnam and Laos) that the ecological damage is limited.
Radioactive materials are more dangerous when the half-life is shorter, because a short half-life means they release more particles and decay faster. This is part of why Iodine-131 is such a concern, because beta particles do penetrate human skin, and it is highly radioactive with a half-life of just over 8 days. It also gets absorbed easily by your thyroid, which is part of the reason why potassium iodide is added to salt as it prevents this absorption. Obviously gamma radiation and X-rays are still much worse, because they are very difficult to stop and will go right through you, but U-238 is never going to generate those on its own.
I am also a comrade, but I don’t think that DU rounds in Ukraine is such a big deal. If you have any evidence to the contrary I’d love to hear it.
Tell that to the Iraqi children born with birth defects because of the DU rounds left there by the US 30 years ago. The worry isn’t “It will make the whole country uninhabitable” but “It will cause additional cancers and birth defects in the population living there.”
I agree with this.