Jan 20 2009
Tungsten Might Be the New Mercury
Tungsten is a powerful contaminant and toxin that is in a lot of regular things, like jewelry and lightbulbs. When used in bombs for war, it’s a nightmare material that produces terrible and strange wounds, and is both a danger to humans and to the environment. (See: ‘Tungsten bombs’ leave Israel’s victims with mystery wounds”)
Tungsten was used extensively in DIME bombs used by Israel, (allegedly) supplied by the United States, in their brutal attacks on Gaza recently. Hundreds of DIME bombs were used by Israel for weeks in the attacks.
Tungsten will be a serious environmental toxin for years to come in the Gaza strip, as a result. It may also stunt the growth of plants that grow there and negatively affect reproduction. Here is a recent article from Scientific American explaining the problems with tungsten.
“Scientists this week urged further research on tungsten, the metal used to make light bulb filaments, shotgun shells, electrical wires and even wedding bands, to rule out possible health risks to humans and the environment in the wake of studies showing that it may cause reproductive problems in earthworms and stunted growth in sunflowers.
In an article published this week in Chemical & Engineering News, researchers suggest that not enough is known to determine whether tungsten is safe, and that studies need to be conducted to assess how much is in drinking water and the soil – and whether it poses dangers for humans, animals and plants.
Experts say that tungsten is safe when used in its pure form in light bulb filaments, jewelry, and electrical devices. But researchers quoted in the article and interviewed by ScientificAmerican.com say that when tungsten gets into the soil (through, say, light bulbs in landfills), it reacts with substances such as oxygen, forming new chemicals such as polytungstates that may cause growth and reproduction problems in plants and animals. Studies show that sunflowers grown in soil spiked with tungsten powder grow shorter roots, stalks, and leaves and “start looking sickly,” says David Johnson, a toxicologist with the Environmental Laboratory of the U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Miss.
He adds that it’s also “a pretty potent reproductive toxin” in earthworms, noting that worms exposed to even minute levels of tungsten (700 milligrams of tungsten per 1 kilogram of soil) become infertile. Johnson says that the effects of tungsten on earthworm reproduction are “comparable” to that of lead in humans, which has been linked to neurological problems in fetuses and children.
. . . . ERDC geochemist Anthony Bednar told ScientificAmerican.com that scientists are trying to get a handle on the various chemical forms of tungsten in the environment, how they move through the soil – and whether any of them pose risks for people and the environment. Lab toxicologist Johnson, meanwhile, is trying to figure out how tungsten moves up the food chain—from its absorption by the plants (including agricultural varieties) to the animals and humans that eat them.”
In addition, Israel also used white phosphorous and depleted uranium on the Gaza strip, so that whole area is very contaminated and probably not even safe for human life at the moment. That may have been part of the the plan. Israel clearly does not care about either the human or environmental toll their attacks had on Gaza.
In my view, the tools of war, and especially experimental weapons, are so damaging to people and the environment that they should be banned under penalty of charge with war crimes.
