Eli5: How and why is uranium bad / deadly for the human body?
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Uranium is hazardous in two ways: as a source of radiation, and as a toxin.
Most uranium is not terribly radioactive unless it’s been refined to specifically the more radioactive kinds used in nuclear reactors and to make weapons.
It is, however toxic if it gets into your body, like other heavy metals. It gets wedged in enzymes and proteins on the surfaces of cells, screwing up the chemistry of the cells and their operation. It causes certain types of cells to die off by screwing up chemistry in the mitochondria (part of the cell that generates chemical energy to operate the cell), causes inflammation, and it can interfere with enzymes that do DNA repair in your body — which increases the risk of cancer as well as killing cells.
You can take uranium into your body by breathing in dust that contains it, or by eating / drinking things that have it mixed in. It’s a big concern for soldiers that may have fought in areas where “depleted” (not radioactive) uranium was used for artillery or as armor on tanks. When those things smash into stuff, microscopic bits of it are released into the air and become toxic dust.
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