US says no evidence munitions for Ukraine cause cancer

STORY: “I would push back on the assertion from Russian officials. Here, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has stated that there is no evidence that the World Health Organization organization reports that there has been no increase of leukemia or other cancers and that have been established following any exposure to uranium or DU (depleted uranium),” said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.

“These are standard issue rounds,” she added.

The use of depleted uranium munitions is fiercely debated; the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons says ingesting or inhaling even depleted uranium dust can cause cancers and birth defects.

But a United Nations Environment Programme report on the impact of depleted uranium on Serbia and Montenegro, in then- Yugoslavia, found “no significant, widespread contamination.”

And Britain’s Royal Society said in a report in 2002 that the risks to the kidney and other organs from the use of depleted uranium munitions were very low, both for most soldiers in the field and for those living in the conflict area.