Potentially-toxic particles of uranium have been found to have travelled almost 6km from where they were first emitted.

A UK study has discovered that uranium particulate – invisible to the naked eye and akin to smoke – can survive for up to 25 years.

The claim is made in research conducted by the University of Leicester, which examined hundreds of soil and dust samples at the town of Colonie in New York State.

Before its eventual closure, a lead facility in the town emitted five tonnes of uranium into the local environment during the 1960s and 1970s, leading to local residents complaining they had been exposed to airborne particulate.

By using electron microscopes researchers found uranium-rich particulate – several hundreds times greater than background radiation levels at the source – as far as 5.8km away.

"The study shows that uranium oxide particulate is both mobile and durable in the environment," the study's authors write.

Today's report also notes the connection between the depleted uranium (DU) munitions, which are marginally radioactive and chemically toxic, used by US and British forces and the immune system disorder Gulf war syndrome.

"However, under the scrutiny of peer-review, scientific studies have so far failed to demonstrate a significant connection between inhalation exposure and human ill-health," the researchers write.

"One of the problems is that no studied non-occupational populations have been shown to have significant inhalation exposure to DU."

Want to advertise in Scarlet, Harlot or this website? Click here and download our media pack which has all the information you need.

Scarlet Media Pack 2008