25 January 2001

Balkan Measures taken by the Medical Service of the Belgian army in relation with depleted uranium and other substances Actions taken prior to deployment. 1. Risk assessment for possible pollution by CS, BZ ', and depleted uranium, has been performed by the Medical Service of the Belgian Joint Staff in may 1999. DU was considered a potential hazard if inhaled, ingested or internalised within wounds, although the doses needed to reach harmful consequences may not be reached unless one is exposed directly to explosions within a certain radius (between 10 and 50 m, depending on the sort of weapon). The Belgian troops were not deployed in a zone where DU had been used. To avoid being unprepared in case of an accident -someone taking souvenirs, or going into destroyed tanks or being exposed to explosions,...- it was however proposed to take preventive measures. These measures were taken after advice from the nuclear centre of Mol (Dr. Christian Urtgen). The aim was to be able to document any future incident. 2. Filter masks (3,600) from Dräger, GE, were purchased in two batches and delivered to Kosovo on July the 22nd, during the first week of initial deployment of KFOR. These were intended to protect against DU dust if needed. Actions taken during and after deployment 1. Urine analysis: Urinalysis was performed on every Military Personnel coming back, on 24 hours urine samples. Fluorimetry was advised by the nuclear centre of Mol. This technique enables to determine the total uranium content of the samples. Resolution is 1 microgram U/L. Such a level is found among the Belgian population living in Belgium. If someone had done something wrong or had been exposed to harmful doses, it would have been evidenced. The BE medical staff wanted to ascertain that even the unlikely was covered.3,580 samples had already been analysed in December 2000. All of them showed results under the microgram limit of detection, excepted three at threshold levels. These three samples were further analysed with spectrometry -i.e. measure of the radiation power and spectrum. The results were assessed by the MOL centre as perfectly normal for the Belgian population. 2. Soil analysis: BE Medical service collected 152 soil samples from the whole Kosovo [BE sector and outside BE sector]. These were handed out to the University of Gent (Prof. J. Uyttenhove. Medische Fysica) for analysis. Analysis was performed with high performance spectrometry. No trace of DU, nor primary, nor secondary could be seen (primary would come from the enrichment process, secondary from processing of spent nuclear fuel). The detection limit of the method was calculated and confirmed by the laboratory of the University of Gent. 3. Other actions concerning asbestos, lead, toxic fumes were taken by BE during the deployment. Cancer statistics A compared analysis of cancer statistics from troops deployed in the Balkans and from the rest of the BE population is currently being done. Based on Belgian morbidity and mortality statistical datas available, it appears that the total number of malignancies observed with military personnel having served in the Balkans lies below the projected expectation for a population matched for sex, age and size. To ascertain these results, the analysis is still ongoing, and will include the whole military population deployed in the Balkans. The results from our sampling will be published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. ' CS and BZ are crowd control gases used in FRY by the police. They are not chemical weapons as such. But they affect the nervous system by creating stupor,... In high doses side effects include neurovegetative symptoms, or even comas at very high dosages.