GIS Based Study of Probable Causes of Increase in Cancer Incidences in Iraq After Gulf War 1991

Abstract: The use of banned toxic weapons in Iraq during Gulf War 1991 started new debates. The increase in cancer cases was the main focus of these issues. The gap in literature motivated this study to find out the correlation between use of DU weapons and its effects on human health. The different probable causes of increase in cancer cases, in Iraq after Gulf War 1991, have been discussed in this study. Three causes; DU, brick kilns smoke near Basra and Kuwait oil fire smoke have been selected. The major emphasis of this study is on use of Depleted Uranium (DU). Different statistical data sets have been used and displayed in the form of maps and graphs using GIS methodologies. It’s hard to say after this GIS based study that the fired Depleted Uranium is the sole cause of increase in cancer incidences in Iraq, while some trends and risk factors at least can be observed where increase in cancer cases in different Governorates in Iraq is clearly visible after Gulf War 1991. After analyzing satellite images of different dates, the second part of this study concludes that Kuwait oil wells smoke is not responsible for increase in cancer incidences in Iraq. A small debate has been initiated regarding smoke in brick kilns near Basra. No study has been found in this regard which can provide evidences that brick kilns smoke is the cause of increase in cancer incidences in southern Iraq. It’s not easy to carry out a full fledge GIS based study to prove DU as cause of increase in cancer cases. The main limitation in this regard is unavailability of required data. Therefore a new GIS based methodology has been devised which can be used to prove relationship between exposure to DU and increase in cancer cases in Iraq. This new methodology is also dependent on specific data sets. Hence this methodology also recommends the collection of specific data sets required for this study. At the end, a detailed study, with honesty, has been suggested to fill up the gaps found in literature whether use of Depleted Uranium in weapons is harmful for human health or not.