Agent Orange

Agent Orange is a herbicide recognized for its use during the Vietnam War. It is composed of equal parts of two chemicals : 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T . A less potent form of the herbicide has also been used for clearing heavy growth on a commercial basis for a number of years. However, it does not contain 2,4-D. On a commercial level, the herbicide was used in forestry control as early as the 1930s. In the 1950s through the 1960s, Agent Orange was also exported. For example, New Brunswick, Canada, was the scene of major Agent Orange spraying to control forests for industrial development. In Malaysia in the 1950s, the British used compounds with the chemical mixture 2,4,5-T to clear communication routes.

In the United States, herbicides were considered for military use towards the end of World War II, during the action in the Pacific. However, the first American military field tests were actually conducted in Puerto Rico, Texas, and Fort Drum, New York, in 1959.

That same year—1959—the Crops Division at Fort Detrick, Maryland initiated the first large-scale military defoliation effort. The project involved the aerial application of Agent Orange to about 4 mi² (10.4 km²) of vegetation. The experiment proved highly successful; the military had found an effective tool. By 1960, the South Vietnamese government, aware of these early experiments, had requested that the United States conduct trials of these herbicides for use against guerrilla forces. Spraying of Agent Orange in Southeast Asia began in 1961. South Vietnam President Diem stated that he wanted this "powder" in order to destroy the rice and the food crops that would be used by the Viet Cong. Thus began the use of herbicides as a weapon of war.

The United States military became involved, recognizing the limitations of fighting in foreign territory with troops that were not accustomed to jungle conditions. The military wanted to clear communication lines and open up areas of visibility in order to enhance their opportunities for success. Eventually, the United States military took complete control of the spray missions. Initially, there were to be restrictions: the spraying was to be limited to clearing power lines and roadsides, railroads and other lines of communications and areas adjacent to depots. Eventually, the spraying was used to defoliate the thick jungle brush, thereby obliterating enemy hiding places.

Once under the authority of the military, and with no checks or restraints, the spraying continued to increase in intensity and abandon, escalating in scope because of military pressure. It was eventually used to destroy crops, mainly rice, in an effort to deprive the enemy of food. Unfortunately, the civilian population—Vietnamese men, women, and children—was also affected. The United States military sprayed 3.6 million acres (1.5 million ha) with 19 million gal (720 million l) of Agent Orange over nine years.

The spraying also became useful in clearing military base perimeters, cache sites, and waterways. Base perimeters were often sprayed more than once. In the case of dense jungle growth, one application of spray was made for the upper and another for the lower layers of vegetation. Inland forests, mangrove forests, and cultivated lands were all targets. Through Project Ranch Hand—the Air Force team assigned to the spray missions—Agent Orange became the most widely produced and dispensed defoliant in Vietnam.

Military requirements for herbicide use were developed by the Army's Chemical Operations Division, J-3, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, (MACV). With Project Ranch Hand underway, the spray missions increased monthly after 1962. This increase was made possible by the continued military promises to stay away from the civilians or to re-settle those civilians and re-supply the food in any areas where herbicides destroyed the food of the innocent. These promises were never kept. The use of herbicides for crop destruction peaked in 1965 when 45% of the total spraying was designed to destroy crops.

Initially, the aerial spraying took place near Saigon. Eventually the geographical base was widened. During the 1967 expansion period of herbicide procurement, when requirements had become greater than the industries' ability to produce, the Air Force and Joint Chiefs of Staff become actively involved in the herbicide program. All production for commercial use was diverted to the military, and the Department of Defense (DOD) was appointed to deal with problems of procurement and production. Commercial producers were encouraged to expand their facilities and build new plants, and the DOD made attractive offers to companies that might be induced to manufacture herbicides. A number of companies were awarded contracts. Working closely with the military, certain chemical companies sent technical advisors to Vietnam to instruct personnel on the methods and techniques necessary for effective use of the herbicides.

During the peak of the spraying, approximately 129 sorties were flown per aircraft. Twenty-four UC-123B aircraft were used, averaging 39 sorties per day. In addition, there were trucks and helicopters that went on spraying missions, backed up by such countries as Australia . C-123 cargo planes and helicopters were also used. Helicopters flew without cargo doors so that frequent ground fire could be returned. But the rotary blades would kick up gusts of spray, thereby delivering a powerful dose onto the faces and bodies of the men inside the plane.

The dense Vietnamese jungle growth required two applications to defoliate both upper and lower layers of vegetation. On the ground, both enemy troops and Vietnamese civilians came in contact with the defoliant. American troops were also exposed. They could inhale the fine misty spray or be splashed in the sudden and unexpected deluge of an emergency dumping. Readily absorbing the chemicals through their skin and lungs, hundreds of thousands of United States military troops were exposed as they lived on the sprayed bases, slept near empty drums, and drank and washed in water in areas where defoliation had occurred. They ate food that had been brushed with spray. Empty herbicide drums were indiscriminately used and improperly stored. Volatile fumes from these drums caused damage to shade trees and to anyone near the fumes. Those handling the herbicides in support of a particular project goal had the unfortunate opportunity of becoming directly exposed on a consistent basis. Nearly three million veterans served in Southeast Asia. There is growing speculation that nearly everyone who was in Vietnam was eventually exposed to some degree—far less a possibility for those stationed in urban centers or on the waters.

According to official sources, in addition to the Ranch Hand group at least three groups were exposed:

• A group considered secondary support personnel. This included Army pilots who may have been involved in helicopter spraying, along with the Navy and Marine pilots.
• Those who transported the herbicide to Saigon, and from there to Bien Hoa and Da Nang. Such personnel transported the herbicide in the omnipresent 55-gallon (208-l) containers.
• Specialized mechanics, electricians, and technical personnel assigned to work on various aircraft. Many of this group were not specifically assigned to Ranch Hand but had to work in aircraft that were repeatedly contaminated.

Agent Orange was used in Vietnam in undiluted form at the rate of 3–4 gal (11.4-15.2 l) per acre. 13.8 lb (6.27 kg) of the chemical 2,4,5-T were added to 12 lb (5.5 kg) of 2,4-D per acre, a nearly 50-50 ratio. This intensity is 13.3 lb (6.06 kg) per acre more than was recommended by the military's own manual. Computer tapes (HERBS TAPES) now available show that some areas were sprayed as much as 25 times in just a few short months, thereby dramatically increasing the exposure to anyone within those sprayed areas. Between 1962 and 1971 an estimated 11.2 million gal (42.4 million l) of Agent Orange were dumped over South Vietnam.

Evaluations show that the chemical had killed and defoliated 90–95% of the treated vegetation. Thirty-six percent of all mangrove forest areas in South Vietnam were destroyed. Viet Cong tunnel openings, caves, and above ground shelters were revealed to the aircraft after the herbicides were shipped in drums identified by an orange stripe and a contract identification number that enabled the government to identify the specific manufacturer. The drums were sent to a number of central transportation points for shipment to Vietnam.

Agent Orange is contaminated by the chemical dioxin , specifically TCDD. In Vietnam, the dioxin concentration in Agent Orange varied from parts per billion (ppb) to parts per million (ppm), depending on each manufacturer's production methods. The highest reported concentration in Agent Orange was 45 ppm. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) evacuated Times Beach , Missouri, when tests revealed soil samples there with two parts per billion of dioxin. The EPA has stated that one ppb is dangerous to humans.

Ten years after the spraying ended, the agricultural areas remained barren. Damaging amounts of dioxin stayed in the soil thus infecting the food chain and exposing the Vietnamese people. As a result there is some concern that the high levels of TCDD are responsible for infant mortality , birth defects , and spontaneous abortions that occur in higher numbers in the once sprayed areas of Vietnam. Another report indicates that thirty years after Agent Orange contaminated the area, there is 100 times as much dioxin found in the bloodstream of people living in the area than those living in non-contaminated areas of Vietnam. This is a result of the dioxin found in the soil of the once heavily sprayed land. The chemical is then passed on to humans through the food they eat. Consequently, dioxin is also spread to infants through the mother's breast milk, which will undoubtedly affect the child's development.

In 1991 Congress passed the Agent Orange Act(-Public Law 102-4), which funded the extensive scientific study of the long-term health effects of Agent Orange and other herbicides used in Vietnam. As of early 2002, Agent Orange had been linked to the development of peripheral neuropathy, type II diabetes, prostate cancer , multiple myeloma, lymphomas, soft tissue sarcomas, and respiratory cancers. Researchers have also found a possible correlation between dioxin and the development of spinal bifida, a birth defect, and childhood leukemia in offspring of exposed vets. It is important to acknowledge the statistics do not necessarily show a strong link between exposure to Agent Orange or TCDD and some of the conditions listed above. However, Vietnam veterans who were honorably discharged and have any of these "presumptive" conditions (i.e., conditions presumed caused by wartime exposure) are entitled to Veterans Administration (VA) health care benefits and disability compensation under federal law. Unfortunately many Vietnamese civilians will not receive any benefits despite the evidence that they continue to suffer from the affects of Agent Orange.

[Liane Clorfene Casten and Paula Anne Ford-Martin ]

RESOURCES

BOOKS

Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2000. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001.

PERIODICALS

"Agent Orange Exposure Linked to Type 2 Diabetes." Nation's Health 30, no. 11 (December 2000/January 2001): 11.
"Agent Orange Victims." Earth Island Journal 17, no. 1 (Spring 2002): 15. Dreyfus, Robert. "Apocolypse Still." Mother Jones (January/February 2000). Korn, Peter."The Persisting Poison; Agent Orange in Vietnam." The Nation 252, no.13 (April 8, 1991): 440.

Young, Emma"Foul Fare." New Scientist 170, no. 2292 (May 26, 2001): 13.

OTHER

U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA). Agent Orange [June 2002]. <http://www.va.gov/agentorange>.