‘Green’ training ammo carries cancer risk

**Daedalus** · April 21st, 2009, 09:18 AM

‘Green’ training ammo carries cancer risk: study. In the 1990s, the U.S. Army introduced a new set of “green” training ammunition, designed to be less toxic and more environmentally friendly than the lead-filled rounds used before. But these new bullets may have left firing ranges contaminated and exposed soldiers to a new health hazard. Soon-to-be-released research suggests that a key element in the new ammo, once thought to be safe, may in fact be carcinogenic. The Army has stopped production of the bullets. Over 90 million rounds of the “green” training ammunition have been used in the United States, since its introduction. It relies on a blend of tungsten and nylon, or tungsten and tin. That gives the bullets the same density and firing properties as the original, but without using lead. Tungsten was considered non-toxic. But new research by a University of Arizona Research Professor of Pediatrics points to a different conclusion: that tungsten may elevate the risk for cancer. His study, to be presented later this month at the 2009 Experimental Biology Meeting in New Orleans, is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which wanted to take a fresh look at leukemia clusters in Fallon, Nevada and Sierra Vista, Arizona. Nearby tungsten mining appears to have raised tungsten levels in the towns. The Army is concerned enough about possible risks that it has stopped making the tungsten ammo. “The U.S. Army developed a lead free 5.56mm round during the mid 1990s with a Tungsten-Nylon alternate slug materiel. Environmental studies later determined that Tungsten-Nylon had a possible environmental impact. The Army stopped production of its Tungsten-Nylon 5.56mm [rounds],” a spokesperson for the Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center tells Danger Room. “The residual inventory of 5.56mm Tungsten-Nylon rounds is still available for use in training at lead-restricted sites as it is deemed safer than lead.”

**daschnoz** · April 21st, 2009, 10:48 AM

1. Not to be an ass, but please site your source.

2. (If it is true) Aahh yes, the unintended consequences of the typical liberal knee-jerk reaction...