Abstract
Tungsten-based composites have been recommended as a suitable replacement for depleted uranium. Unfortunately, one of these mixtures composed of tungsten (W), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) induced rhabdomyosarcomas when implanted into the leg muscle of laboratory rats and mice to simulate a shrapnel wound. The question arose as to whether the neoplastic effect of the mixture could be solely attributed to one or more of the metal components. To investigate this possibility, pellets with one or two of the component metals replaced with an identical amount of the biologically-inert metal tantalum (Ta) were manufactured and implanted into the quadriceps of B6C3F1 mice. The mice were followed for two years to assess potential adverse health effects. Implantation with WTa, CoTa or WNiTa resulted in decreased survival, but not to the level reported for WNiCo. Sarcomas in the implanted muscle were found in 20% of the CoTa-implanted mice and 5% of the WTa- and WCoTa-implanted rats and mice, far below the 80% reported for WNiCo-implanted mice. The data obtained from this study suggested that no single metal is solely responsible for the neoplastic effects of WNiCo and that a synergistic effect of the three metals in tumor development was likely.
Highlights
Advances in military weapons’ design has led to an increase in the complexity of metal mixtures on today’s battlefields
Aerojet Ordnance manufactured the WNiCo pellets used in an earlier study [13] and produced the following pellets for this investigation: WTa, NiTa, CoTa, WNiTa, WCoTa and NiCoTa
Tungsten-based material has been increasingly used in a variety of applications, including in military munitions. One such formulation designed to replace depleted uranium in armor-penetrating munitions and comprised of tungsten, nickel and cobalt was shown to induce malignant rhabdomyosarcomas when implanted into the leg muscle of laboratory rats to simulate a shrapnel wound [11,12]
Summary
Advances in military weapons’ design has led to an increase in the complexity of metal mixtures on today’s battlefields. Concern over the health and environmental impact of the use of depleted uranium has led many countries to replace depleted uranium with various tungsten alloys in their arsenals of armor-penetrating munitions. In many of these formulations, tungsten is combined with two or more of the following transition metals: nickel, cobalt, iron and copper. Implantation of an alloy of 91% tungsten, 7% nickel and 2% iron (Fe) did not result in any adverse health effects [12,13] This raises the question of whether one or more of the component metals can be identified as the cause of rhabdomyosarcoma formation. The manufactured pellets were surgically implanted into the quadriceps muscles of the B6C3F1 laboratory mouse, and the mice were followed for two years for signs of adverse health effects
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