HW 31: Depleted Uranium

I had never heard of depleted uranium before Baghdad Burning. Riverbend caught my attention when she spoke of depleted uranium, she made it sound so horrible and it was surprising me to that I had never heard of it. She stated “I remember depleted uranium…Those are household words to Iraqi people. I remember seeing babies born with a single eye, three legs or no face-a result of DU poisoning.” After reading this it made me want to learn more. Riverbend said that depleted uranium are household words to Iraqi people, meaning that they are familiar with it and most of the have probably been effected by it in some way or another. The depleted uranium weapons used in 1991 have resulted in a damaged environment and an astronomical rise in the cancer rate in Iraq. (Riverbend, 47) Depleted Uranium (DU) is uranium remaining after removal of the isotope uranium-235. It is a waste product of the uranium enrichment process. It is primarily composed of the isotope uranium-238. In the past it was called by the names Q-metal, depletalloy, and D-38, Depleted Uranium is a radioactive material and a chemical material. The principal health consideration of Depleted Uranium is due to chemical toxicity. The organ at greatest risk from chemical toxicity is the kidneys. Of less concern are Depleted Uranium’s radiological hazards. (wikipedia.com) this one paragraph of Baghdad Burning just goes to show another horrible aspect of Riverbend’s life and how many things she actually has to deal with on a day to day basis, something which most of us are not at all familiar with.

Works Cited:

Riverbend. Baghdad Burning. New York: The Feminist Press, 2005.

Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. 2007. Wikimedia Foundation. 7 Nov. 2007.