Uranium isotopic ratio (238U/235U) analysis of bombarded vs. unimpacted sites in Beirut: toxic heavy metal exposure and reproductive health damage

Heavy bombardment of Westen Asian countries has been ongoing for over two decades. Upon explosion, precision guided and unguided weapons release long-lasting toxic metals into the environment. Contamination of air, water, and food will ultimately expose humans to toxic metals. Across Iraq, where heavy bombardment occurred in the 2000’s, increases in congenital anomalies and cancers have been linked to exposure to war contamination. We know that the same ammunition which was used in Iraq is being used in densely populated areas of Western Asia (Lebanon, Palestine [notably Gaza], Syria, Yemen). The bombs which are raining on the populations of Western Asia require identification, quantification, and assessment of public health damage. We compared levels of toxic metals in soil samples of reference sites (n = 2) and bomb craters (n = 6) in Beirut. Metals which are heavily used by the weapons manufacturing industry (Hg, Ti, Li, Al, Cs, and Rb) were significantly higher (n = 8, p < 0.05) in bomb craters. Comparison of ²³⁸ U and ²³² Th levels between reference and bomb craters showed that there was twice as much ²³⁸ U and four times more ²³² Th in bomb craters (p = 0.06). There was an identified spearman correlation between known total U from soil and ²³⁸ U/ ²³⁵ U ratio (rho = 0.5; p-value < 0.05). Thus, sites with more U present had ²³⁸ U/ ²³⁵ U ratios that would indicate more depleted uranium in the total concentration of U. We echo the concerns of the Lebanese Association of Social Medicine, which called upon the United Nations and other international bodies charged with safeguarding public and environmental health, to pay serious attention to the issue of war contamination in Western Asia.