Gulf vet killed by radiation exposure

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, May 2, 1999 | by Felicity Arbuthnot

GULF WAR veteran Terry Riordan vowed to burn himself to death in protest if his long-term illness was linked to exposure to radioactive depleted uranium shells used during the 1991 conflict. On Friday, death rescued him from such drastic action.

Riordan is one of at least 36,000 British and American veterans destined to die from cancer-related sickness as a result of weapons used in the Gulf, claims an internationally respected scientist. It is said that 600,000 members of the armed forces will be delayed casualties of the disease.

Tests of Gulf veterans in the UK, US, Canada and Iraq, obtained by The Sunday Herald, were conducted by Hari Sharma, Professor Emeritus in chemistry at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Sharma, whose distinguished career includes 24 years as a radiation safety adviser to industry, laboratories and universities, has sent his findings to Nato and to heads of state of countries with DU weapons, condemning them as weapons of mass destruction and their use as "a crime against humanity". "The use of depleted uranium can bring about a slow but painful death. "I beseech you to take appropriate action so that depleted uranium is used in no further conflict." Last Wednesday, 45-year-old Terry Riordan received the results of his tests. They showed that his body contained 100 times the yearly maximum "safe" level of DU. He died two days later. Riordan was the first Canadian veteran to be tested and was one of 40 veterans from the UK, US, Canada and Iraq to undergo tests for DU at the University of Waterloo. Samples were also taken from Iraqi veterans, and from civilians from heavily bombarded areas including Basra, in the eye of Desert Storm, where experts have measured radiation at 84 times natural occurring levels. Cancers in the region have risen sevenfold since 1991 and rare congenital abnormalities are widely recorded. Ray Bristow from Hull and Colin Purcell Lee from Manchester were also found to have over 100 times the designated "safe" level of DU in their systems. Both are gravely ill. Bristow is the first British veteran to receive confirmation that the second test confirms original results. DU weapons were first used in the Gulf War as coating for missiles and heavy weaponry due to its armour piercing properties. Last month, The Sunday Herald revealed that depleted uranium weapons were now being used in the Balkans. It was alleged that DU, common in tank-busting shells, was also present in Tomahawk cruise missiles. More than 500 of these missiles have now been fired at targets throughout Yugoslavia. An American environmental group warned that uranium contamination could pose a deadly threat to the Yugoslav population and allied soldiers if a ground attack was launched. Nato refused to comment on allegations concerning the presence of DU in cruise missiles. On March 16 this year, the MoD Medical Assessment Programme agreed to undertake tests "to detect the presence of depleted uranium", for those "who feel they might have been affected". Such tests have previously been refused on the basis that there is no link with veterans' sickness and DU - and that the presence of DU would be excreted from the system within weeks of exposure. Sharma's tests and those undertaken previously by other scientists at the same university appear to confirm it remains in the body for many years. An MoD spokesman told The Sunday Herald: "We are genuinely open- minded to any information sent to us and if Professor Sharma cares to submit his findings we will, of course, have our experts look at them."