Editing Depleted uranium (section)

===The Balkans===
[[File:Kosovo uranium NATO bombing1999.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Sites in [[Kosovo]] and southern Central [[Serbia]] where NATO aviation used depleted uranium during the 1999 [[Kosovo War]].]]
In 2001, the [[World Health Organization]] reported that data from [[Kosovo]] was inconclusive and called for further studies.<ref>[https://www.who.int/entity/ionizing_radiation/pub_meet/en/Report_WHO_depleted_uranium_Eng.pdf Report of the WHO's Depleted Uranium Mission to Kosovo (pdf 123kb)] 22–31 January 2001.</ref> That same year, governments of several European countries, particularly Italy, reported an increase in illnesses and developments of cancers among veterans that served in Balkan peacekeeping missions.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Simons |first1=Marlise |author-link1=Marlise Simons |title=Radiation From Balkan Bombing Alarms Europe |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/07/world/radiation-from-balkan-bombing-alarms-europe.html |work=The New York Times |date=7 January 2001}}</ref>

A 2003 study by the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] (UNEP) in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] stated that low levels of contaminant were found in drinking water and air particulate at DU penetrator impact points. The levels were stated as not a cause for alarm. Yet, [[Pekka Haavisto]], chairman of the UNEP DU projects stated, "The findings of this study stress again the importance of appropriate clean-up and civil protection measures in a post-conflict situation."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040411033334/http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=298&ArticleID=3926&l=en Low-level DU contamination found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, UNEP calls for precaution] ''United Nations Environment Programme'', 25 March 2003. Retrieved 25 January 2009.</ref>

A team of Italian scientists from the [[University of Siena]] reported in 2005 that, although DU was "clearly" added to the soil in the study area, "the phenomenon was very limited spatially and the total uranium concentrations fell within the natural range of the element in soils. Moreover, the absolute uranium concentrations indicate that there was no contamination of the earthworm species studied."<ref name=DiLella/>

Though a more comprehensive assessment is possible, a 2011 update on a cancer scare regarding Italian soldiers who had served in the Balkans found lower than expected incidence rates for all cancers, a finding "consistent with lacking evidence of an increased cancer incidence among troops of other countries deployed in the areas of Iraq, Bosnia, and Kosovo, where [[armour-piercing ammunition|armour-penetrating]] depleted uranium shells have been used."<ref name=Peragallo/>

In 2018, Serbia set up a commission of inquiry into the consequences of the use of depleted uranium during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in southern Serbia and its link to the rise of diseases and tumors among citizens, particularly in young children born after 1999. Zoran Radovanovic, an epidemiologist and the chairman of the Serbian Medical Association's ethics committee, denied that there had been a rise in cancer cases in areas where bombings had taken place. He continued by saying that Serbians frequently worry about a cancer epidemic that does not exist.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gocanin |first1=Sonja |title=Moscow, Serbian Media Appear To Mislead With Claims About Cancer Fight, NATO Bombings|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/moscow-serbian-media-appear-mislead-claims-cancer-fight-nato-bombings-/30320663.html |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=20 January 2023 |date=11 December 2019}}</ref> NATO has repeatedly claimed that depleted uranium found in the ammunition used in the 1999 bombardments cannot be linked to adverse health effects.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gocanin |first1=Sonja |title=Serbian Accusation Lingers of Link Between NATO Bombing, Health Woes |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/serbian-accusation-lingers-of-link-between-nato-bombing-health-woes/29841402.html |website=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=4 September 2019 |date=25 March 2019}}</ref>