Lichens as biomonitors of depleted uranium

This paper reports the results of a study using lichens as biomonitors to investigate the environmental distribution of depleted uranium (DU) at selected Kosovo sites as a consequence of the use of DU ordnance during the conflict of 1999. The results suggested that the use of DU ammunitions did not cause a diffuse environmental contamination in such a way to have caused a detectable U enrichment in lichens. Also isotopic 235U/238U measurements did not indicate the presence of DU particles in lichens, except for some samples at a heavily shelled site, which resulted contaminated by DU. © 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.