Uranijum

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Sci Total Environ. 2001 Dec 17;281(1-3):23-35.

Radioecological survey at selected sites hit

by depleted uranium ammunitions
during the 1999 Kosovo conflict.
Sansone U1, Danesi PR, Barbizzi S, Belli M, Campbell M, Gaudino S, Jia G, Ocone R,
Pati A, Rosamilia S, Stellato L.

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Abstract
A field study, organised, coordinated and conducted under the responsibility of the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), took place in Kosovo in November 2000 to
evaluate the level of depleted uranium (DU) released into the environment by the use of
DU ammunition during the 1999 conflict. Representatives of six different scientific
organisations took part in the mission and a total of approximately 350 samples were
collected. During this field mission, the Italian National Environmental Protection
Agency (ANPA) collected water, soil, lichen and tree bark samples from different sites.
The samples were analysed by alpha-spectroscopy and in some cases by inductively
coupled plasma-source mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The 234U/238U and 235U/238U
activity concentration ratios were used to distinguish natural from anthropogenic
uranium. This paper reports the results obtained on these samples. All water samples had
very low concentrations of uranium (much below the average concentration of drinking
water in Europe). The surface soil samples showed a very large variability in uranium
activity concentration, namely from approximately 20 Bq kg(-1) (environmental natural
uranium) to approximately 2.3 x 10(5) Bq kg(-1) (approximately 18000 mg kg(-1) of
depleted uranium), with concentrations above environmental levels always due to DU.
The uranium isotope measurements refer to soil samples collected at places where DU
ammunition had been fired; this variability indicates that the impact of DU ammunitions
is very site-specific, reflecting both the physical conditions at the time of the impact of
the DU ammunition and any physical and chemical alteration which occurred since then.
The results on tree barks and lichens indicated the presence of DU in all cases, showing
their usefulness as sensitive qualitative bio-indicators for the presence of DU dusts or
aerosols formed at the time the DU ammunition had hit a hard target. This result is

particularly interesting considering that at some sites, which had been hit by DU
ammunition, no DU ground contamination could be detected.

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Health Phys. 1985 May;48(5):553-86.

The occurrence of radioactivity in public

water supplies in the United States.
Hess CT, Michel J, Horton TR, Prichard HM, Coniglio WA.

Abstract
Examination of the collected data for radionuclide concentration measurements in public
water supplies in the United States show more than 51,000 measurements for gross alphaparticle activity and/or Ra, 89,900 measurements for U, and 9,000 measurements for Rn.
These measurements were made as part of national and state surveys of radionuclide
concentrations in utility water supplies for Ra and Rn; and the National Uranium
Resource Evolution (NURE) survey for U which included non-utility water supplies.
Surface water has low values for Ra and Rn but levels comparable to ground water for U.
Separate isotope measurements were not taken for much of the Ra and U data. Because
226Ra to 228Ra ratios and 238U to 234U ratios are not fixed in water, further
measurements are needed to establish the specific isotopic concentrations by region.
Analysis of the state average values in geological provinces shows the highest provincial
areas for Ra are the Upper Coastal Plain, the glaciated Central Platform, and the Colorado
plateau. For U, the highest areas are the Colorado plateau, the West Central Platform, and
the Rocky Mountains. For Rn, the highest provinces are New England and the
Appalachian Highlands-Piedmont. Regional hydrogeological and geochemical models
are suggested for guiding the formulation of regional standards and monitoring strategies.
Utility supplies serving small populations have the highest concentration for each
radionuclide and have the lowest fraction of samples measured, which shows a need for
further measurements of these small population water supplies. Risk estimates for the
average concentration of Ra in utility ground water give about 941 fatal cancers per 70.7yr lifetime in the United States. Risk estimates for the average concentration of U in
utility surface and ground water give about 105 fatal cancers per 70.7-yr lifetime in the
United States. Using 1 pCi/liter in air for 10,000 pCi/l in water, the Rn in utility water
risk estimate is for 4,400-22,000 fatal cancers per 70.7-yr lifetime in the United States.