The long-term effects of exposure to the remnants of depleted uranium from a health perspective are still unclear.

The United Nations definition provided above is from Protocol V of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons but does not include any reference to explosive remnants of war (ERW) in the form of improvised explosive devices.

‘Explosive remnants of war’ is a catchall term for any explosive ordnance that remains unexploded and abandoned following the cessation of conflict. An explosive ordnance may be considered ‘unexploded’ or ‘abandoned’ if it has been “primed, fused, armed, or otherwise prepared for use […] in an armed conflict” prior to being “left behind or dumped by a party to an armed conflict”.

Cluster munitions are an example of ERW and have a long history of conventional use by state actors during warfare. They are “designed to cover an area with explosive force” and have been used in warfare since the Second World War. A cluster munition produces damage by exploding a single projectile, which fragments into a number of smaller explosive ordnance, which then detonate over a large area. Cluster munitions are of particular concern when discussing the impact of ERW, as the impact of unexploded cluster munitions when detonated is significantly higher than other conventional munitions. A study of the comparative impact on civilian populations found that “ten unitary projectiles with a 10 per cent failure rate will leave one unexploded item whereas ten cluster munitions with 100 submunitions each and a 10 per cent failure rate will leave 100 unexploded items – ten times as many” casualties or fatalities. The clearance of cluster munitions has proved extremely challenging in many contexts – for example in Kosovo, where civilians who went in search of provisions such as firewood accidentally detonated the munitions, causing many casualties and fatalities.

Explosive remnants of war frequently have adverse effects on populations owing to the shedding of chemicals or chemically active compounds into areas where they are abandoned. This can have long-term effects when a population is exposed to the chemicals through contamination of water, soil, food sources, and general living environment. One such example is the presence of depleted uranium, which has had significant impacts on the health of conflict affected populations and their environment since it was introduced into conventional warfare. 

Depleted uranium has a high density, which makes it a useful component of kinetic energy weapons such as anti-tank weaponry. In areas with high radioactive contamination, there is a risk of wildfires burning terrain leading to an uncontrolled re-distribution of radioactive particles – which has a profound negative impact on population health. This has resulted in depleted uranium weapons being used widely with the exploded particle remnants being inhaled by those working and living in the vicinity of the conflict. The long-term effects of exposure to the remnants of depleted uranium from a health perspective are still unclear, but the environmental impact is profound – with an increase in uranium in water supplies, contaminated soil, and potentially unexploded remnants of depleted uranium munitions. Metrics and numeric limits Not available.