1. Uranium Medical Research Centre
www.umrc.net

2. The Analysis of Uranium
Isotopes Abundance and Ratios
in the Civilian Population
of Eastern Afghanistan
after Operation Enduring Freedom

3. A. Durakovic, A. Gerdes,
F. Klimaschewski, I. Zimmerman
Uranium Medical Research Centre
Washington, DC, USA
London, UK
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Institute for Mineralogy
JW Goethe University
Frankfurt, Germany

4. Objective
The purpose of this work was to determine
the concentration and precise ratio of four
uranium isotopes (234U, 235U, 236U, 238U) in the
urine specimens of the civilian population in
Eastern Afghanistan following Operation
Enduring Freedom (OEF).

5. The Unique Signature
of Artificial Uranium
U/235U Ratio
238
Natural Uranium: 137.88
Depleted Uranium: 492.60
Non-Depleted Uranium: 137.88 + U
236

6. Bomb Crater, Jalalabad, Afghanistan

7. Subjects
► Twenty-one symptomatic subjects were
chosen from various locations of Eastern
Afghanistan by the UMRC Field Research
Team in during two field trips in 2002.
► All subjects were presenting with symptoms
of fatigue, fever, musculo-skeletal and
neurological alterations, headaches, and
respiratory impairment after inhalation of
dust during the bombing raids in June,
2002.
► The subjects had their urine samples
collected under controlled conditions.

8. Child Survivors of the Bombing of
Houses in Bibi Mahrow

9. Controls
► Three subjects who were apparently
healthy and reported to have been in
parts of the country not effected by
the bombing raids had their urine
collected for comparison.

11. Sample Preparation
► Chemical preparation of the uranium
in each urine sample involved pre-
concentration of the uranium using co-
precipitation, evaporation, oxidation of
organic matter, and purification of
uranium by ion-exchange
chromatography.

12. Sample Analysis
► The samples were analyzed using a
double focusing Thermo-Elemental
Plasma54 multi-collector ICP-MS
equipped with a Daly detector for ion
counting and multiple faraday cups.
► The analysis was done at the NERC
Isotope Geosciences Laboratory,
British Geological Survey, Keyworth,
Notts, United Kingdom

14. Analytical Methods
► Analytical blanks were negligible at less
than 50 picograms U, and chemical recovery
was > 80% in most cases.
► Along with the samples, analyses were
conducted of a urine internal standard (with
c. 11 ng/L uranium) of natural isotopic
composition (atomic ratio 137.88 for
238
U:235U) and certified isotopic standards of
uranium, both of which returned the correct
values for the standards.

15. Results
► The U/235U ratio was 138.15 compared
238
with 137.88 for natural uranium.
► The 234U/238U ratio of 5.75 x 10-5 compared
with 5.54 x 10-5 for natural uranium.
► The mean concentration of uranium 231.23
ng/L was considerably greater than
expected for a normal population 1-20 ng/L
► 236U was detected in 6 of the 21 samples
with a 236U/238U ratio greater than the
detection limit of 1.0 x 10-7.

16. Table 1: Isotopic Ratios
Subject 238
U/235U 2 Sigma U/238U
234
2 Sigma U/238U
236
2 Sigma
1 137.65 0.15 5.53 x 10-5 1.27 x 10-6 4.61 x 10-8 2.20 x 10-9
2 138.09 0.18 5.43 x 10-5 1.22 x 10-6 6.67 x 10-8 5.60 x 10-9
3 137.55 0.19 5.55 x 10-5 1.37 x 10-6 9.60 x 10-8 8.20 x 10-9
4 137.95 0.15 5.44 x 10-5 1.19 x 10-6 8.9 x 10-9 2.60 x 10-9
5 138.08 0.15 5.45 x 10-5 1.17 x 10-6 2.2 x 10-9 1.60 x 10-9
6 137.98 0.16 5.44 x 10-5 1.31 x 10-6 2.65 x 10-8 3.60 x 10-9
7 137.82 0.14 5.62 x 10-5 1.57 x 10-6 7.79 x 10-8 5.20 x 10-9
8 137.86 0.14 5.63 x 10-5 1.54 x 10-6 7.35 x 10-8 5.00 x 10-9
9 138.52 0.69 5.40 x 10-8 5.72 x 10-9
10 138.93 0.75 5.40 x 10-8 5.72 x 10-9
11 137.72 0.96 7.20 x 10-5 4.76 x 10-5 2.30 x 10-6 3.08 x 10-7
12 137.74 0.74 1.80 x 10-7 1.76 x 10-8
13 137.91 0.06
14 137.97 0.94 5.70 x 10-5 1.70 x 10-5 9.40 x 10-7 1.15 x 10-7
15 138.26 0.94 6.20 x 10-5 5.34 x 10-6 2.50 x 10-6 9.0 x 10-8
16 138.50 0.69 9.20 x 10-7 4.60 x 10-8
17 138.47 0.75 2.70 x 10-8 4.06 x 10-9
18 138.58 0.69
19 138.68 0.69 1.50 x 10-7 1.08 x 10-8
20 138.27 0.69 4.90 x 10-8 1.00 x 10-8
21 138.70 0.72 7.10 x 10-8 3.32 x 10-8
Average 138.15 5.75 x 10-5 4.02 x 10-7
STD 0.39 5.29 x 10-6 7.56 x 10-7
SE 0.08 1.53 x 10-6 1.69 x 10-7

17. Table 2: Isotopic Abundance
Subject % U
238
% U
235
% 234
U % 236
U
1 99.2733 0.7212 5.49 x 10-3 3.67 x 10-6
2 99.2757 0.7189 5.38 x 10-3 6.63 x 10-6
3 99.2727 0.7217 5.51 x 10-3 9.53 x 10-6
4 99.2750 0.7196 5.40 x 10-3 8.84 x 10-7
5 99.2756 0.7190 5.41 x 10-3 2.16 x 10-7
6 99.2751 0.7195 5.40 x 10-3 2.63 x 10-6
7 99.2741 0.7203 5.58 x 10-3 7.73 x 10-6
8 99.2743 0.7201 5.58 x 10-3 7.30 x 10-6
9 99.2833 0.7167 5.36 x 10-6
10 99.2853 0.7147 5.36 x 10-6
11 99.2718 0.7208 7.15 x 10-3 2.28 x 10-4
12 99.2792 0.7208 5.66 x 10-3 1.79 x 10-5
13 99.2801 0.7199 6.16 x 10-3
14 99.2747 0.7195 9.33 x 10-5
15 99.2755 0.7181 2.48 x 10-4
16 99.2831 0.7168 9.13 x 10-5
17 99.2830 0.7170 2.68 x 10-6
18 99.2836 0.7164
19 99.2841 0.7159 1.49 x 10-5
20 99.2820 0.7180 4.86 x 10-6
21 99.2842 0.7158 7.05 x 10-6
Average 99.2784 0.7186 5.70 x 10-3 3.99 x 10-5
STD 0.0046 0.0020 5.27 x 10-4 7.51 x 10-5
SE 0.0010 0.0004 1.52 x 10-4 1.68 x 10-5

18. Table 3: Uranium Concentration
Subject U ng/L Subject U ng/L
1 279.17 12 40.19
2 245.27 13 2031.63
3 128.03 14 29.92
4 449.97 15 99.62
5 474.42 16 57.51
6 296.48 17 74.84
7 87.88 18 44.32
8 223.18 19 90.04
9 94.07 20 39.58
10 25.78 21 33.14
11 10.88
U ng/L
Average 231.23
STD 434.50
SE 92.64

19. Controls
Table 5: Control Uranium Concentration
Subject U ng/L
1 59.93
2 26.79
3 9.47
Average 32.06
STD 25.64
SE 14.80
Table 6: Control Isotopic Ratios
Subject 238
U/235U 2 Sigma U/238U
234
2 Sigma U/238U
236
2 Sigma
1 138.97 0.94 6.30 x 10-5 8.56 x 10-6 5.90 x 10-6 1.30 x 10-8
2 139.10 0.72 2.60 x 10-7 2.60 x 10-8
3 137.44 0.96 6.30 x 10-5 5.42 x 10-5 2.20 x 10-7 1.69 x 10-7
Average 138.50 6.30 x 10-5 2.13 x 10-6
STD 0.92 3.27 x 10-6
SE 0.53 1.89 x 10-6

20. Chart 1: Uranium Concentration
2100
1800
1500
1200
900
600
300
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 C1 C2 C3

21. Conclusion
► Our results confirm a significantly elevated
presence of uranium isotopes in the urine of
Afghan civilians after Operation Enduring
Freedom.
► This demonstrates contamination from a
source consistent with natural uranium
(NU), resulting in total uranium
concentration levels of up to 100 times
higher than the normal range of various
worldwide geographic and environmental
areas.

22. Conclusion
► Possible explanation of our findings may be
either a consequence of exposure due to
deployment of weapons containing non-
depleted uranium (NDU) or unusually high
levels of natural uranium (NU) in drinking
water or soil in the particular geographic
areas.
► The cause of the urinary presence of natural
and non-depleted uranium may be
consistent with our previously reported
findings of contamination by inhalation of
uranium containing aerosols.

23. Uranium Medical Research Centre
www.umrc.net