Surveillance of Depleted Uranium-exposed Gulf War Veterans: More Evidence for Bone Effects.
Health Phys
; 120(6): 671-682, 2021 06 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33867437
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Gulf War I veterans who were victims of depleted uranium (DU) "friendly-fire" incidents have undergone longitudinal health surveillance since 1994. During the spring of 2019, 36 members of the cohort were evaluated with a monitoring protocol including exposure assessment for total and isotopic uranium concentrations in urine and a comprehensive review of health outcomes, including measures of bone metabolism and bone mineral density (BMD) determination. Elevated urine U concentrations were observed in cohort members with retained depleted uranium (DU) shrapnel fragments. In addition, a measure of bone resorption, N-telopeptide, showed a statistically significant increase in those in the high DU subgroup, a finding consistent with a statistically significant decrease in bone mass also observed in this high DU subgroup compared to the low DU subgroup. After more than 25 y since first exposure to DU, an aging cohort of military veterans continues to show few U-related health effects in known target organs of U toxicity. The new finding of impaired BMD in the high DU subgroup has now been detected in two consecutive surveillance visits. While this is a biologically plausible uranium effect, it is not reflected in other measures of bone metabolism in the full cohort, which have largely been within normal limits. However, ongoing accrual of the U burden from fragment absorption over time and the effect of aging further impairing BMD suggest the need for future surveillance assessments of this cohort.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Veteranos
/
Exposição Ocupacional
/
Urânio
Tipo de estudo:
Screening_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Health Phys
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article