Damacio Lopez is a leading international activist, researcher, and advocate dedicated to banning the use of depleted uranium (DU) in military weapons. His extensive work spans over three decades, driven by a personal awakening to the dangers of DU.
Lopez’s commitment to this cause began in the mid-1980s when, while recovering from a car accident in his hometown of Socorro, New Mexico, he witnessed and investigated open-air testing of DU weapons near his family home. This discovery, and the subsequent health issues he observed in his community, ignited his lifelong campaign.
A cum laude graduate of the University of New Mexico, Lopez is a Vietnam era disabled veteran. He has leveraged his research skills to co-author significant reports, including “Uranium Battlefields Home and Abroad: Depleted Uranium Use by the U.S. Department of Defense” and “Friendly Fire: The Link Between Depleted Uranium Munitions and Human Health Risks.”
Lopez is a principal founder and Executive Director of the International Depleted Uranium Study Team (IDUST), a non-governmental organization focused on stopping the use of DU in military weapons and commercial products. He also played a key role in establishing the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW).
His advocacy has taken him to international forums, including the European Parliament and the United Nations, where he tirelessly campaigns for an international treaty to ban uranium weapons. He has traveled to Iraq to measure radiation from DU weapons and has been instrumental in raising awareness about DU contamination in affected communities worldwide.
While living in Costa Rica , Lopez continued his international efforts, contributing to the passage of a regional moratorium on DU weapons by the Latin American Parliament in 2009. His dedication has been recognized with awards, and he has influenced and produced several reports and films on depleted uranium, including “URANIUM 238: THE PENTAGON’S DIRTY POOL.”
Damacio Lopez’s work underscores the critical need for global action against depleted uranium, highlighting its long-term health and environmental consequences and the urgent need to enforce international humanitarian and human rights laws.