Military Use of DU Rounds – What Happens After Impact?
• When DU munitions hit an armored vehicle they form an aerosol containing fine DU particles that may be inhaled. Most of the contamination stays inside the vehicle that has been struck. However, some of the dust will be dispersed into the environment and spread by wind or deposited on the ground by rain. The bulk of DU dust remains within about a few hundred meters of the hit target. Over time, fine DU dust particles deposited on the ground will be absorbed into the soil, while bigger DU fragments remain intact on the ground and start to corrode. • In most cases, no more than 10% of the penetrators hit their intended target. DU penetrators that do not hit a target or hit ‘soft’ targets (non-armored vehicles) do not generate significant dust. Most munitions that impact on soft ground, such as clay or sand, penetrate intact into the ground (down to a few meters depending on the type of soil). • The corrosion of DU penetrators varies. For example, in quartz sand or acidic volcanic rock,
