The HMTA powder acts like micro-shrapnel which is very lethal at close range (about 4 m or 13 ft), but loses momentum very quickly due to air resistance, coming to a halt within approximately 40 times the diameter of the charge.
[3] The carcinogenic effects of heavy metal tungsten alloys (HMTA) (along with depleted uranium [DU]) have been studied by the U.S. Armed Forces since at least the year 2000.
[4] A more recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study, from 2005, found that HMTA shrapnel rapidly induces rhabdomyosarcoma in laboratory rats.
[7] In July and August 2006, doctors in the Gaza Strip reported unusual wounds caused by Israel Defense Forces attacks against Palestinians, claiming that they were from previously unknown weapons.
[8] Mads Gilbert and Erik Fosse, working on wounded from the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, reported injuries that they believed were caused by some new type of weapon used by Israel, which they speculated were DIME bombs.