PRESS RELEASE:
A bill will be introduced in the Louisiana State House of Representatives by Rep. Juan La Fonta of District 96 to give the
right to all Louisiana Servicemen and women returning from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom for independent
testing for depleted uranium contamination. The bill will be co-sponsored by Rep. Jalila Jefferson-Bullock of District 91.
The Louisiana legislative session will be convened from April 23rd to May 25th, 2005. The Louisiana Brigade, with
approximately 4,500 National Guardsmen, is expected to return home between October and December, 2005.
The independent testing will be a best practices health screening test for exposure to depleted uranium. The test will use a
bioassay procedure involving sensitive methods capable of detecting depleted uranium at low levels and the use of equipment
with the capacity to discriminate between different radioisotopes in naturally occurring levels of uranium and the
characteristic ratio and marker for depleted uranium. Depleted uranium (DU) was used extensively by the military as a
hardener for ammunition in Afghanistan and Iraq. Reports show that DU is radioactive and can cause leukemia, DNA breakdown,
other cancers, and birth defects in offspring of soldiers who have come into contact with it.
Louisiana is only one of three states to propose such legislation to protect the health of servicemen and their offspring.
New York and Connecticut are the other two, with Montana expected to follow suit. Mandatory testing has been shown to be
ineffective due to the lack of adequate testing. More information about depleted uranium can be found at
www.newdemocracyrising.com.
