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What? Depleted Uranium is less radioactive than unprocessed Uranium. It's used because it's really, really dense. I'd be comfortable using flatware made out of

What? Depleted Uranium is less radioactive than unprocessed Uranium. It's used because it's really, really dense. I'd be comfortable using flatware made out of the stuff.

dagw 9y ago
I'd be comfortable using flatware made out of the stuff. The main health concerns aren't due to the fact that DU is highly radioactive in itself, but that tiny DU 'dust' particles break of from the munitions on impact and inhaling these particles can be very dangerous. There is also some evidence that long term exposure to DU can lead birth defects and potentially other health problems, but the causality is very difficult to tease out. So while I agree that DU isn't used because it is radioactive, that doesn't change the fact that it does potentially cause serious health issues.
- 3pt14159 9y ago
  I mean, sure, in the long term. But there is a long, long list of stuff that the military uses that I'm more worried about than DU. It's essentially like Tungsten, Lead, or Mercury.
  - dagw 9y ago
    The problem more or less unique to DU munitions is that it gives off tiny aerosol particles when it hits its target which can contaminate a large area and are very easy to breathe in for a long time afterwards. And breathing in these particles are linked to an increasing number of health issues.
disconnected 9y ago
> I'd be comfortable using flatware made out of the stuff. I would strongly advise against that. DU (Depleted Uranium) is not (very) radioactive, but it is still extremely toxic (as toxic as unprocessed Uranium, IIRC), and also carcinogenic. If you ate off of it, you would become very sick, very quickly. So, DON'T.
Symmetry 9y ago
It's not radioactive but it is a toxic metal and can be dangerous for the same reason that lead, mercury, etc are.
deng 9y ago
Armor-piercing projectiles that are enhanced with DU form an aerosol of Uranium oxides when hitting their target. This aerosol can contaminate large areas and is inhaled by military people and later by civilians, for instance by kids that play in abandoned tanks that were hit with such DU-enhanced projectiles. Since DU is an alpha emitter with a long half-life, it is dangerous to have it in your body, even when the radioactivity is comparably low. As a heavy metal, it will stay in your body pretty much forever, and there's the chemical toxicity as well. The long-term effects of inhaling Uranium oxides are heavily debated, as it will take usually many years for an illness to develop, and it is almost impossible to link a certain illness to DU with high certainty.

What? Depleted Uranium is less radioactive than unprocessed Uranium. It's used because it's really, really dense. I'd be comfortable using flatware made out of the stuff.

dagw 9y ago

I'd be comfortable using flatware made out of the stuff. The main health concerns aren't due to the fact that DU is highly radioactive in itself, but that tiny DU 'dust' particles break of from the munitions on impact and inhaling these particles can be very dangerous. There is also some evidence that long term exposure to DU can lead birth defects and potentially other health problems, but the causality is very difficult to tease out. So while I agree that DU isn't used because it is radioactive, that doesn't change the fact that it does potentially cause serious health issues.

3pt14159 9y ago
I mean, sure, in the long term. But there is a long, long list of stuff that the military uses that I'm more worried about than DU. It's essentially like Tungsten, Lead, or Mercury.
- dagw 9y ago
  The problem more or less unique to DU munitions is that it gives off tiny aerosol particles when it hits its target which can contaminate a large area and are very easy to breathe in for a long time afterwards. And breathing in these particles are linked to an increasing number of health issues.

disconnected 9y ago

> I'd be comfortable using flatware made out of the stuff. I would strongly advise against that. DU (Depleted Uranium) is not (very) radioactive, but it is still extremely toxic (as toxic as unprocessed Uranium, IIRC), and also carcinogenic. If you ate off of it, you would become very sick, very quickly. So, DON'T.

Symmetry 9y ago

It's not radioactive but it is a toxic metal and can be dangerous for the same reason that lead, mercury, etc are.

deng 9y ago

Armor-piercing projectiles that are enhanced with DU form an aerosol of Uranium oxides when hitting their target. This aerosol can contaminate large areas and is inhaled by military people and later by civilians, for instance by kids that play in abandoned tanks that were hit with such DU-enhanced projectiles. Since DU is an alpha emitter with a long half-life, it is dangerous to have it in your body, even when the radioactivity is comparably low. As a heavy metal, it will stay in your body pretty much forever, and there's the chemical toxicity as well. The long-term effects of inhaling Uranium oxides are heavily debated, as it will take usually many years for an illness to develop, and it is almost impossible to link a certain illness to DU with high certainty.