We've been doing experiments with depleted Uranium at the lab and I've beens surprised at how little is known about it, especially as a toxic chemical. I wrote the following letter to Science News in response to a recent article on the low-level of radiological risk of the material.

Editor, Science News
1719 N Street, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20036

Your article on the hazards of depleted Uranium (SN: 8/13/05, p.110) should not lull us into believing that depleted Uranium is a low risk material, especially for children who may later play on the battlefields of the current war. While, I applaud Mr. Marshall for using scenarios such as that of children playing in and around vehicles destroyed by depleted-uranium munitions in his radiological risk analysis, he, and others, fails to consider potential chemical effects that uranium may share with other heavy metals, such as lead. There is a rich body of literature documenting the deleterious effects (e.g. lowering IQ) of lead on children, even at doses below those considered acceptable by CDC guidelines. Little if anything, however, is known about the effects of uranium on the developing nervous system, leaving open the question of whether or not it affects children who might inhale uranium-contaminated dust or be exposed to it in food or water. Given the state of our ignorance it is important for uranium to be evaluated beyond its radiological effects as “a major player, in causing health effects,” especially where the well-being of children is concerned.