Australia will screen troops who served alongside peacekeepers in Bosnia and Kosovo for symptoms of the so-called Balkans Syndrome, defence officials said Thursday.

An Australian humanitarian agency has also begun seeking advice about the risk posed to aid workers based in the region in 1999, and will screen all staff exposed to the suspected source of the condition -- radioactive spent ammunition -- if necessary.

Up to 200 Australian servicemen have served in the Balkans while on secondment to British or American forces, and may have been exposed to spent munitions containing depleted uranium.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel stationed in the Balkans were taking part in the Long Look exchange program.

The defence department's decision follows reports that some troops from Nato nations had died from leukaemia and other cancers after serving in the region.

The acting chief of the Australian Defence Force, Lieutenant General Des Mueller, confirmed defence officials were "aware of the growing concern about the possible health effects of depleted urnium munitions used in the Balkans".

"There have been a number of Australian Defence Force personnel who served with the peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and on attachment to allied units in Kosovo," Mueller said.

"Whilst it is unlikely that ADF personnel ... have been exposed to depleted uranium, I have directed that those individuals be identified and their degree of exposure assessed."

Aid agency Care Australia is also assessing the possible risks faced by aid workers based in the region, either during or shortly after Nato's 1999 bombing campaign that drove Serbian forces from Kosovo.