Uranium health checks stepped up

WEB EXCLUSIVE Margaret Lowrie: European nations raise concerns over depleted-uranium tipped ammunition

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Health tests on troops who served in the Balkans are to be carried out across Europe amid mounting concern over the long-term effects of depleted uranium weapons.

NATO ambassadors will meet on Wednesday to discuss the use of shells coated with depleted uranium (DU) ammunition after at least seven Italian soldiers who served in the Balkans died of leukaemia.

Relatives and veterans' groups estimate that around 20 soldiers from Europe have died following service in the region.

Other Balkan veterans have suffered from a range of symptoms including cancer, fatigue and hair loss, prompting calls for increased medical screening and research.

But links between the illnesses -- dubbed "Balkans syndrome" -- and depleted uranium tipped shells have been rejected by senior figures in the U.S. and UK governments.

U.S. attack jets fired some 31,000 rounds of DU ammunition during NATO's 1999 campaign to end Serb repression of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. About 10,000 rounds were also fired in neighbouring Bosnia in 1994-95.

NATO officials maintained there was no proven link between the DU munitions and cancer among Western peacekeepers, a stance supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), but agreed further studies should be conducted.

NATO and European Union officials met separately on Tuesday to discuss the use of DU weapons ahead of the meeting of NATO ambassadors.

VIDEO CNN's Margaret Lowrie says British officials believe the ammunition poses no threat to troops from the Balkan war Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    REFERENCE Balkans Syndrome   •  Uranium facts   •  Search for truth   •  Depleted uranium effects   •  Q&A: NATO fears   •  Cause for doubt   •  Cancer, leukaemia reports   •  What they say   •  In-depth: Kosovo   •  News search     AUDIO Scott Peterson explains some of the health risks associated with depleted uranium. 29 sec/423 k AIFF or WAV sound Albright: "No proof, no connection." 320K/30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Pekka Haavisto, UN Environment Programme spokesman, says even low levels of uranium unacceptable 340K/32 sec. AIFF or WAV sound UN investigation took one year for approval 330K/30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound The UN Environment Programme described 300K/28 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Bruce George, defence expert and British MP, explains the consequences of not using uranium weapons 400K/37 sec. AIFF or WAV sound The threat of litigation 400K/37 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

The EU's executive commission said it would set up a working group of member state medical and scientific experts to report early next month on the possible health risks.

"Ten years of conflict in the Balkans have created horrible environmental problems. We have to take care of our staff working there and also of (local) people," commission President Romano Prodi told reporters during a trip to Sweden.

Several European states have stepped up health checks on veterans and set up national inquiries into the potential risks of exposure to radioactive dust from DU missile explosions.

Belgian defence ministry spokesman Gerard Harveng that 1,600 out of 12,000 troops who served in Balkan peacekeeping missions before the Kosovo crisis had complained of a lack of concentration, sleeping problems and headaches.

He said there had been nine cases of lung, skin, blood or brain cancer, five of whom had died, but it was not yet possible to find any link between soldiers' illnesses and weapons used in the Balkans.

"That's why Belgium wants it on the NATO and EU table. (Our) minister wants to have a very big discussion, trying to find an answer and to determine if there is a danger or not," he said. Britain announced it would offer its soldiers a health test.

"Some of the recent coverage will have caused some concerns amongst our people and we do recognise a need to reassure them," Defence Minister John Spellar told parliament.

But he said studies of veterans from the Gulf War, 10 years ago, where similar DU ammunition was used, had found no evidence of abnormally high cancer rates.

"DU will remain part of our arsenal for the foreseeable future," he said.

Meanwhile the French National Assembly defence committee announced it was widening a parliamentary probe into "Gulf War syndrome" to include the Balkans, coinciding with the discovery of a fifth case of leukaemia in a Balkans veteran.

"It is not possible to ignore the emotion and concern about the health of our soldiers," said committee head Paul Quiles.

A French journalist who covered the Gulf War and Bosnian conflict said she suspected DU-tipped arms caused intestinal, neurological and muscular problems she was suffering.

But experts from the Geneva-based WHO said studies in Kosovo hospitals had shown no rise in average levels of leukaemia among the Serb province's largely Albanian civilian population.

The concern has however prompted officials in 16 European countries to announce plans for mass or voluntary screening of troops who served in the Balkans.

And the issue spread beyond Europe on Tuesday as New Zealand joined the list of countries investigating whether their troops were exposed to radioactivity from DU munitions.

Anecdotal evidence suggested New Zealand service men and women were not exposed to depleted uranium but personnel locations would be double checked, the chief of New Zealand Defence, Air Marshal Carey Adamson, said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

European nations raise concerns
January 9, 2001
NATO and EU discuss weapons fears
January 9, 2001
Germany confirms weapons warning
January 8, 2001
Portugal probes Kosovo uranium sites
January 8, 2001
Conflicting research on radiation in Kosovo
January 6, 2001
Radiation found at Kosovo bomb sites
January 5, 2001
NATO arms illness claims denied
January 4, 2001
Radiation tests for NATO troops
January 4, 2001

NATO
Gulf War Illnesses
United Nations Environment Programme
The Pentagon: The United States Department of Defense

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.