U.S. researchers said tumbleweeds and some other weeds common to dry Western lands have a knack for soaking up depleted uranium from contaminated soils.
This ability could be invaluable at weapons-testing grounds and battlefields, they said.
"There is some use to what we consider noxious weeds," said geologist Dana Ulmer-Scholle of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
Depleted uranium is used in armor-piercing munitions. Although it produces only a low level of radiation, the metal poses a hazard in soils because it is toxic if ingested. Other plants have been known to draw out the substance from soils in wetter climes, "but no one wanted to try doing it in arid regions," said Ulmer-Scholle.
Indian mustard was among other plants that absorbed depleted uranium, but that plant is not well suited to deserts and needs irrigation. Better adapted to dry environs are tumbleweeds -- also known as Russian thistle -- the grain crop quinoa and purple amaranth.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
