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Scientists weather media storm By Deborah Inkpen
Pat Horan in her lab

Pat Horan, a project geochemist at Memorial, has been at the centre of a media storm over controversial findings that show substantial amounts of depleted uranium in urine samples of Gulf War veterans. Ms. Horan says she wasn’t prepared for all the media attention that her research has been generating.  “Right from the beginning there’s been lots of press around this,” said Ms. Horan. “It’s been stressful, suddenly having a camera crew show up”. Ms. Horan and her colleagues have been contacted by the BBC, CBC, Southam News and The British Times.” I don’t normally watch TV, but we’ve been thrust onto the international stage. It’s been interesting,” said Dr. Greg Dunning, head of the laboratory. Depleted uranium is a man-made composition of uranium. Like all uranium, it is a chemically toxic and radioactive element. Depleted uranium was used in the manufacture of armaments for the Gulf War. Some NATO countries are suggesting that soldiers exposed to this substance are getting sick or dying as a result. Ms. Horan’s results contradict claims by the Department of National Defence that repeated tests have shown Gulf military personnel to have only normal amounts of uranium in their bodies. The legitimacy of the Memorial findings has been challenged by some military personnel who say that DU poses no health risk. Ms. Horan is careful to point out that she and her colleagues are not medical doctors and therefore cannot comment on the effects of DU.