U.N. plays down ammunition risk

GENEVA, Switzerland -- The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is "unlikely" that depleted uranium ammunition used by NATO troops could have caused cancer.

The Geneva-based United Nations health agency on Friday issued its first recommendation on the ammunition since the beginning of the current controversy over potential health risks.

The body concluded it was "unlikely" that exposure to NATO weapons containing depleted uranium could have led to a higher risk of cancer among military personnel who served in the Balkan conflicts.

But it said that it was planning a study to "assess whether there has been an increased rate of cancer amongst military personnel who served in the Gulf War or Balkans, as well as amongst exposed populations."

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It also called for the cordoning off and cleaning up of sites in Kosovo where depleted uranium (DU) ammunition landed during the NATO air campaign.

Future research would include assessing links between exposure to uranium and kidney damage, and studies of the "reproductive, mutagenic and carcinogenic properties of uranium."

Italy recently demanded that NATO investigate whether the deaths of six of its soldiers from leukaemia after tours of duty in Kosovo and Bosnia was due to the so-called "Balkans Syndrome."

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While playing down the likelihood of DU ammunition posing a serious cancer risk, WHO did recommend measures be taken to put areas strewn with the spent ammunition off limits.

"Given the remaining uncertainties about the effects of DU, it seems reasonable to undertake clean-up operations in impact zones where there are substantial numbers of radioactive particles remaining," WHO said.

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"If there are very high concentrations of DU, then areas may need to be cordoned off until the particles are removed. This is especially the case where children are likely to be present."

On Thursday, Klaus Toepfer, head of the U.N. Environment Programme, and Pekka Haavisto, who leads its Balkans Task Force team which has collected samples at 11 sites in Kosovo, said all 112 Kosovo sites should be analysed for possible health risks.

The top U.N. environmental officials, who await laboratory results on 340 samples taken at 11 Kosovo sites by early March, recommended that sites in Bosnia also be investigated.

WHO spokesman Greg Hartl told a news briefing that three WHO officials would attend a January 16-17 conference in Basra, Iraq on the effects of depleted uranium and other environmental factors which could be the cause of "increased adverse health effects."

Iraq has blamed western munitions containing depleted uranium used during the 1991 Gulf War for thousands of cancer deaths and deformed births.

The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has called for a more extensive survey of sites in the Balkans that were hit by Nato shells containing depleted uranium.

An IAEA spokesman said checks on at least 30 sites were required for a satisfactory survey to determine whether debris from the shells could cause cancer.

Nato has informed the United Nations of more than 100 sites where the shells were used, and so far UN inspectors have seen 11 of them.

Reuters contributed to this report.