The health risks from exposure to natural uranium have been studied extensively. Particles of naturally occurring uranium on human skin can cause skin cancers. It is also well known that ultraviolet light exposure can cause skin cancer. Now it appears that there may be a synergistic effect of ultraviolet light "photoactivating" uranium particles on bare the skin that increases the danger of skin cancer.
Recent research headed up by Diane Sterns, professor of biochemistry at Northern Arizona University, has been exploring the effects of photoactivation on uranium particles on human skin. They have found that this can be chemically toxic and can lead to cancer. The research team recommends that the possibility of photoactivation should be explored in cases of skin exposed to natural uranium.
The NAU researchers have suggested that such photoactivation could be an even greater risk for people whose skin cells cannot repair themselves. There is a disease called Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) that causes extreme sensitivity to sunlight. This disease is found especially in the Navajo Nation in the American Southwest. In the general population of the United States, XP is found in about one person in a million. In the Navajo Nation, its occurrence is close to one in thirty thousand people. For people suffering from this condition, the danger of photoactivation is greater.
There has been a lot of uranium mining and processing in the Navajo Nation. These activities have resulted in generating a great deal of airborne particles of natural uranium. The bare skin of anyone living in the area would be exposed to such particles on a regular basis. The researchers feel that the risk to Navajos from photoactivation of uranium on their skin is especially high and should be included in health screenings in the Navajo Nation.
There has been a historical increase in cancers and XP in the Navajo Nation over six decades during which uranium has been mined there. Recently the EPA allocated one and a half million dollars to clean up two uranium transfer stations in the Navajo Nation. One of the motivations was to removed uranium contaminated soil to "keep the uranium for becoming airborne." There may be as many as two thousand contamination sites that are endangering the Navajos living in the area.
The researchers are working to understand exactly how photoactivation of uranium damages DNA. They are especially interested in finding out if uranium exposure and photoactivation have played a role in the increasing cancers and incidences of XP among the Navajo. This is obviously a major danger for Navajos who live on the Navajo lands adjacent to uranium operations.
This highlights one of the big public health problems from worldwide uranium mining and processing operations. When uranium mines are located on the lands of indigenous peoples, the threat of radiation poisoning is downplayed or actively ignored. There have been many reports of indigenous people working in uranium mines or living near uranium mines not being warned about the health dangers. In some cases, doctors actually avoided suggesting that any health problems among the miners and nearby villagers could ever be related to radiation. This is another shameful example of indigenous people being exploited and endangered for the profit of international corporations and major developed nations.
