US EPA

1424824 

Technical Report 

Preconceptional Paternal Exposure to Embedded Depleted Uranium Fragments: Transmission of Genetic Damage to Offspring 

Miller, AC 

2003 

NTIS/02926483 

GRA and I 

GRA and I 

The Persian Gulf War resulted in friendly fire casualties among U.S. personnel injured by fragments of depleted uranium (DU) munitions. The demonstrated effectiveness of such weapons makes it likely that they may be used against U.S. forces in future conflicts. Uncertainty about how aggressively to remove fragments of the radioactive, chemically toxic DU has stimulated research into the long-term health consequences of embedded DU fragments. There has been no previous research to determine whether long-term exposure to embedded DU can affect the health of offspring of personnel wounded by DU. This study investigates whether male mice carrying embedded fragments of DU transmit genetic damage to their offspring. We hypothesize that long-term chronic exposure to embedded DU results in paternal transmission of genetic damage to unexposed F1 generation offspring, characterized by increased frequency of in vivo mutations in tissues. During this the first year of this project, we have successfully obtained our institutional animal care approvals, standardized pellet implantation surgical protocols in the mouse, established agreements for use of the proprietary 'Big Blue' mouse, contracted for DU and HMTA pellet procurements, begun implantation of DU and HMTA pellets in the mice, and initiated breeding of implanted mice. 

Depleted uranium; *Genetics; *Laboratory animals; *Neurotoxins; Tissues(Biology); Damage; Health; Mutations; Transmittance; Embedding; Casualties; Pellets; Wounds and injuries; Ordnance; In vivo analysis; Surgical implantation; Anatomical models; Breeding; Persian gulf war; Bioassays; Genomic instability; Heavy metal tungsten alloys; Transgenic mouse