PRESENTATION ON "DEPLETED URANIUM" BY UMP

The European Parliament Committee of Justice and Human Rights has invited the Uranium Medical Project (ump) to give a presentation on Depleted Uranium and the study that analysed the bone and urine of Gulf War veterans. It will take place on October 25th at 10:30 A.M. Room N1.2 European Parliament Building, Strasbourg France.

The tests were carried out in a Canadian research lab that used Mass spectrometry to analyse the Depleted Uranium DU content in the urine of British, Canadian and U.S. veterans and the bones of a deceased Canadian veteran.

This is the first peer reviewed study that shows significant levels of DU in people with inhalational exposure. It demonstrates the internal contamination of Gulf War Veterans. Laboratory findings correlate with the clinical  presentation of multiple somatic complaints that fit a consistent clinical  pattern commonly associated with the term of Gulf War Illness.

Conclusive  evidence of the presence of depleted uranium in the urine samples and internal organs of the contaminated Gulf War Veterans indicates a  possibility of depleted  uranium as one of the causative factors in the complex symptomatology of the Gulf War patients and warrants further clinical and laboratory investigations.

For further information see the Uranium Medical Project web site http://www.umproject.org  For information regarding the presentation at the European parliament contact Shaun Rusling  441482833812 or Duncan West 32 2 284 7626.

The Gulf war, the conflict in former Yugoslavia and the air plain crash of the El Al Boeing in the Bijlmermeer in The Netherlands, October, 4 1992, seem to have induced similar health problems among exposed people. There is a great controversy concerning both the nature and the origin of those problems, but a potential link between the observed health problems and the toxic effects of depleted uranium, both radiological and chemical has been postulated.

In several involved countries, initial efforts undertaken to study this potential link have encountered strong opposition. It became increasingly difficult to separate facts from rumors or fiction, fueled by both genuine victim associations and opportunistic pressure groups.

Taking the suffering of the victims into account the Free University of Brussels and the Belgium Nuclear Research Center (SCK*CEN) want to bring the subject out of the subjective controversy and back in the realm of scientific and clinical research. Hence the important role which both the VUB and can play as neutral centers of excellence in their respective fields.

The speakers are distinguished specialists in the field. Among them: Dr. Asaf Durakovic, MD, USA, nuclear medicine specialist. He recently presented a paper on the presence of uranium isotopes in Gulf war veterans at the European Association of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Paris. Martin Zizi is professor of neurophysiology at VUB and staff officer with the Belgian military medical service. Christian Hurtgen is responsible at SCK*CEN for the quantitative measurements of radio nuclides in biological samples.

Thursday, October 26 2000
17:00 - 19:00

Auditorium P. Brouwer
Medical Campus VUB
Laarbeeklaan 103
B-1090 Brussels (ring exit 9)

Programme:

Welcome, Prof. B. Van Camp, Rector VUB, The toxicity of Uranium, to be announced Presence of Uranium in Gulf war veterans, Dr. A. Durakovic, USA, The Kosovo situation from a Belgian standpoint, Prof. M. Zizi, Uranium measurements in human biosamples, Dr. Ch. Hurtgen

The discussion will be chaired by Frank Deconinck, professor of medical physics at VUB and chairman of the board of governors of SCK*CEN. Following the symposium, the press will have the opportunity to interview the speakers.

More information: Prof. Frank Deconinck, frank.deconinck@vub.ac.be or fax: +32 2 477 46 13.

Following the symposium, the press will have the opportunity to interview the speakers.

Louis Bertholet
<L.Bertholet@chello.nl>