Italian soldiers' uranium exposure risk comes under debate

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Italian soldiers' uranium risk comes under debate

By Rossella Lorenzi

FLORENCE, Italy, Feb 15 (Reuters Health) - An Italian political party has

called for a parliamentary inquiry into the health risks of depleted uranium

after military doctors said a soldier's cancer may be linked to exposure to

the substance.

The Northern League urged the government to clarify whether Italian

peacekeepers in the Balkans were at risk from the depleted uranium used in

armor-piercing weapons.

" Ten thousand tons of depleted uranium are said to be left in the area where

our soldiers operate, " it said in a statement.

NATO and many health officials have denied that the munitions cause cancer,

but controversy continues to boil around the subject.

On Wednesday it was revealed that a military medical commission had decided

that a 23-year-old soldier who developed Hodgkin's lymphoma after returning

from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Balkans deserved compensation as his

illness was a result of his military service.

The military doctors said that vaccines and ionizing radiation from the

uranium " are oncogenic risk factors that might have had a key role in the

genesis of the lymphoid neoplasm, " according to media reports.

" This is the first time that a link between depleted uranium and Hodgkin's

disease is recognized in a sick soldier. This is simply revolutionary, "

Marshall Giuseppe Pesciaioli of Cocer Esercito, which represents troops,

told Reuters Health. " Not to mention the ethical issues towards the

population in the Balkans. We dropped thousands of tons of uranium there. "

At least 13 Italian soldiers have died of cancer since serving in Bosnia,

Kosovo and Macedonia, sparking a national outcry which brought the defence

minister Mattarella to set up a commission of inquiry in December

2000.

The investigative panel, headed by Dr. Franco Mandelli, studied 28 cases of

cancer from December 1995 through January 2001 in 39,450 soldiers. Last

year, the commission report concluded that there is no proven link between

depleted uranium and cancer in soldiers. Another report from the panel of

experts is expected within 2 months.

" Those findings are full of statistical mistakes, " Falco Accame, president

of the Ana-Vafaf Association for those killed and injured in the armed

forces and former president of the Defence Committee of the Italian Chamber

of Deputies, told Reuters Health.

" Among many mistakes, they calculated the risks over all the soldiers who

went to the Balkans during that period, and not in those military really

exposed to the risk, " he said. " Those serving in safe areas should have not

been taken into consideration. "

The soldier at the center of the current dispute will have all his medical

costs covered and a privileged pension.

But according to Accame, compensation is not the only measure that needs to

be taken. " We need an inquiry to determine the responsibility of those who

denied any risk with depleted uranium. "

" The reason why there are so many Italian soldiers sick is simple: our

soldiers were left in t-shirts, totally unprotected. Someone has to pay for

this, " he said.

Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited.