Quote (Meanwhile @ 23 Mar 2023 16:23)
- Yes, DU is bad for health but more likely: as dust or when vastly disseminated in water or in dense/urban areas. We also have to note down that ammunitions are toxic in general so one can be accused because of the other.
- If used in the fields, in limited quantities (enough to finish off russian tanks), the impact would not be big enough to justify to not use it ( IF it has been proven that it will be necessary to destroy the old russian tanks).
- Russians may use it and are already massively contaminating the environment with their massive inaccurate shelling (heavy toxic metals) So now the "health" question is returned to you: Ukrainians are respecting mother nature by using accurate weapons, russians aren't ? Oh wait: "Orcs" ?
As personal opinion: DU but also others chemicals are probably super bad for soldiers in a dry and urban (=dense) environment: IE for days under shellings or during an assault just after.
-From my knowledge - normal ammo is not toxic per se - gunpowder is a mix of sulfur/coal/potassium
potassium nitrate is so not poisonous that it’s been used for centuries as a food additive. In more recent times it’s been added to toothpaste. The MSDS specifies no dosage at which the alleged effects occur, lists no long term hazards, and gives no lethal dose (LD50). I estimate it to be about as toxic as salt.
Charcoal is just carbon. I’m sure if I look up the MSDS it will say it’s hazardous to inhale it in large quantities, but I know it’s safe enough to eat it. It just passes through.
As for sulfur, I don’t think there’s any limit to the amount you can eat without harm. It too passes through, though a possible side effect is you may get a bit smelly.
The only toxic part is exposure to lead - but it has to be in your body or you have to drink out of a lead utensils. If you have a bullet in your body already you probably will not care about the prolonged effect of toxicity of lead on your well-being.
- Every single tank set on fire by DU, every single ammo depot destroyed will contaminate everything around it. Yes it is not as bad as a direct nuclear blast with whole periodic table of isotopes present, but it will remain in the soil and will be absorbed by grain grown on this soil.
- I’m not aware of Russians using DU in Ukraine. They do have DU capabilities, but have not deployed them so far.