Agent Orange
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
U.S. Army
Huey helicopter spraying Agent Orange over Vietnamese agricultural land
Agent Orange is the combination of the code names for Herbicide Orange (HO) and Agent LNX, one of the
herbicides and
defoliants used by the
U.S. military as part of its
chemical warfare program,
Operation Ranch Hand, during the
Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971.
Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with
birth defects as a result of its use.
[1] The
Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or have health problems due to Agent Orange.
[2]
A 50:50 mixture of
2,4,5-T and
2,4-D, it was manufactured for the
U.S. Department of Defense primarily by
Monsanto Corporation and
Dow Chemical. The
2,4,5-T used to produce Agent Orange was later discovered to be contaminated with
2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD), an extremely toxic
dioxin compound. It was given its name from the color of the orange-striped
55 US gallon (208 l) barrels in which it was shipped, and was by far the most widely used of the so-called "
Rainbow Herbicides".
[3]
During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the United States
military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 US gallons (76,000,000 l) of material
containing chemical herbicides and defoliants mixed with
jet fuel in Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia, as part of
Operation Ranch Hand.
[4][5] The program's goal was to defoliate forested and rural land, depriving guerrillas of cover; another goal was to induce
forced draft urbanization,
destroying the ability of peasants to support themselves in the
countryside, and forcing them to flee to the U.S. dominated cities, thus
depriving the guerrillas of their rural support and food supply.
[5][6]
The US began to target food crops in October 1962, primarily using
Agent Blue. In 1965, 42 percent of all herbicide spraying was dedicated to food crops.
[6] Rural-to-urban migration rates dramatically increased in South Vietnam, as peasants escaped the war and
famine
in the countryside by fleeing to the U.S.-dominated cities. The urban
population in South Vietnam nearly tripled: from 2.8 million people in
1958, to 8 million by 1971. The rapid flow of people led to a fast-paced
and uncontrolled
urbanization; an estimated 1.5 million people were living in
Saigon slums.
[7]
United States Air Force records show that at least 6,542 spraying missions took place over the course of Operation Ranch Hand.
[8]
By 1971, 12 percent of the total area of South Vietnam had been sprayed
with defoliating chemicals, at an average concentration of 13 times the
recommended USDA application rate for domestic use.
[9] In South Vietnam alone, an estimated 10 million
hectares (25 million
acres, 39,000
square miles) of agricultural land was ultimately destroyed.
[10] In some areas TCDD concentrations in soil and water were hundreds of times greater than the levels considered "safe" by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
[11][12] Overall, more than 20% of South Vietnam's forests were sprayed at least once over a nine-year period.
[6]
Chemical description and toxicology
Chemically, Agent Orange is an approximately 1:1 mixture of two
phenoxyl herbicides –
2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (
2,4-D) and
2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (
2,4,5-T) – in
iso-octyl ester form.
[13]
Numerous studies have examined health effects linked to Agent Orange, its component compounds, and its manufacturing byproducts.
[14]
Prior to the controversy surrounding Agent Orange, there was already a
large body of scientific evidence linking 2,4,5-T to serious negative
health effects and ecological damage.
[15] But in 1969, it was revealed to the public that the 2,4,5-T was contaminated with a dioxin,
2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (
TCDD),
and that the TCDD was causing many of the previously unexplained
adverse health effects which were correlated with Agent Orange exposure.
[16] TCDD has been described as "perhaps the most toxic molecule ever synthesized by man".
[17]
Internal memoranda revealed that Monsanto (a manufacturer of 2,4,5-T)
had informed the U.S. government in 1952 that its 2,4,5-T was
contaminated.
[18]
In the manufacture of 2,4,5-T, accidental overheating of the reaction
mixture easily causes the product to condense into the toxic
self-condensation product TCDD. At the time, precautions were not taken
against this unintended side reaction, which caused also the
Seveso disaster in Italy in 1976.
In 1979, the Yale
biologist
Arthur Galston, who specialized in herbicide research, published a
review of what was known at the time about the toxicity of TCDD. Even
"vanishingly small" quantities of dioxin in the diet caused adverse
health effects when
tested on animals.
[17] Since then, TCDD has been comprehensively studied. It has been associated with increased
neoplasms in every animal
bioassay reported in the scientific literature.
[19] The National Toxicology Program has classified TCDD as "known to be a human
carcinogen", frequently associated with
soft-tissue sarcoma,
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,
Hodgkin's lymphoma and
chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
[20][21]
While the two herbicides that make up Agent Orange, 2,4-D and
2,4,5-T, remain toxic over a short period—a scale of days or weeks—they
quickly degrade.
[citation needed] A 1969 report authored by K. Diane Courtney and others found 2,4,5-T could cause birth defects and stillbirths in mice.
[22] Several studies have shown an increased rate of cancer mortality for workers exposed to 2,4,5-T. In one such study, from
Hamburg, Germany,
the risk of cancer mortality increased by 170% after working for 10
years at the 2,4,5-T-producing section of a Hamburg manufacturing plant.
[19] Three studies have suggested prior exposure to Agent Orange poses an increased risk of
acute myelogenous leukemia in the children of Vietnam veterans.
[14]
Starting in 1991, the US Congress asked the
Institute of Medicine
to review the scientific literature on Agent Orange and the other
herbicides used in Vietnam, including their active ingredients and the
dioxin contaminant. The IOM found an association between dioxin exposure
and
diabetes.
[23][24]
Early development
In 1943 plant biologist
Arthur Galston began studying the compound
triiodobenzoic acid as a plant
growth hormone, in an attempt to adapt
soybeans
to a short growing season. Galston found that excessive usage of the
compound caused catastrophic defoliation — a finding later used by his
colleague Ian Sussex to develop the family of herbicides used in
Operation Ranch Hand.
[25] Galston was especially concerned about the compound's side effects to humans and the environment.
[26]
In 1943, the U.S. Department of the Army contracted the University of
Chicago to study the effects of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T on cereal grains
(including rice) and broadleaf crops. From these studies arose the
concept of using aerial applications of herbicides to destroy enemy
crops to disrupt their food supply. In early 1945, the U.S. army ran
tests of various 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T mixtures at the
Bushnell Army Airfield in
Florida, which is now listed as a
Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS).
[27][28]
Use in the Vietnam War
Map showing locations of U.S. army aerial herbicide spray missions in South Vietnam taking place from 1965 to 1971
During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the United States
military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 US gallons (75,700,000 l) of chemical
herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of
Cambodia, as part of the aerial defoliation program known as
Operation Ranch Hand.
[4][5]
The goal was to defoliate rural/forested land, depriving guerrillas of
food and cover and clearing sensitive areas such as around base
perimeters.
[29] The program was also a part of a general policy of
forced draft urbanization,
which aimed to destroy the ability of peasants to support themselves in
the countryside, forcing them to flee to the U.S. dominated cities,
depriving the guerrillas of their rural support base.
[5][6]
Spraying was usually done either from helicopters or from low-flying
C-123 Provider
aircraft, fitted with sprayers and "MC-1 Hourglass" pump systems and
1,000 US gal (3,800 L) chemical tanks. Spray runs were also conducted
from trucks, boats, and backpack sprayers.
[30][31][32]
The first batch of herbicides was unloaded at
Tan Son Nhut Air Base in South Vietnam, on January 9, 1962
[3] containing an unknown percentage bacterium Clostridium botulinum.
[citation needed] Air Force records show at least 6,542 spraying missions took place over the course of Operation Ranch Hand.
[8]
By 1971, 12 percent of the total area of South Vietnam had been sprayed
with defoliating chemicals, at an average concentration of 13 times the
recommended USDA application rate for domestic use.
[9] In South Vietnam alone, an estimated 10 million
hectares of agricultural land were ultimately destroyed.
[10] In some areas, TCDD concentrations in soil and water were hundreds of times greater than the levels considered safe by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
[11][12]
The campaign destroyed 5 million acres (20,000 km
2) of
upland and mangrove forests and millions of acres of crops. Overall,
more than 20% of South Vietnam's forests were sprayed at least once over
a nine-year period.
[6][33]
Military film footage of U.S. troops spraying Agent Orange from a riverboat in Vietnam
In 1965, members of the U.S. Congress were told "crop destruction is
understood to be the more important purpose ... but the emphasis is
usually given to the jungle defoliation in public mention of the
program."
[33]
Soldiers were told they were destroying crops because they were going
to be used to feed guerrillas. They later discovered nearly all of the
food they had been destroying was not being produced for guerrillas; it
was, in reality, only being grown to support the local civilian
population. For example, in Quang Ngai province, 85% of the crop lands
were scheduled to be destroyed in 1970 alone. Widespread famine occurred
as a result, leaving hundreds of thousands of people malnourished or
starving.
[34]
The U.S. military began targeting food crops in October 1962, primarily using
Agent Blue;
the American public was not made aware of the crop destruction programs
until 1965 (and it was then believed that crop spraying had begun that
spring). In 1965, 42 percent of all herbicide spraying was dedicated to
food crops. The first official acknowledgement of the programs came from
the
State Department in March 1966.
[6][28]
Many experts at the time, including Arthur Galston, the biologist who
developed and intensively studied TCDD, opposed herbicidal warfare, due
to concerns about the side effects to humans and the environment by
indiscriminately spraying the chemical over a wide area. As early as
1966, resolutions were introduced to the
United Nations charging that the U.S. was violating the 1925
Geneva Protocol, which regulated the use of chemical and biological weapons.
[26][35]
-
Stacks of 55-gallon (200 L) drums containing Agent Orange
-
-
-
A UH-1D helicopter from the 336th Aviation Company sprays a defoliation agent over farmland in the
Mekong Delta
Effects on the Vietnamese people
Health effects
Major Tự Đức Phang was exposed to dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange
The Vietnam Red Cross reported as many as 3 million Vietnamese people
have been affected by Agent Orange, including at least 150,000 children
born with birth defects.
[36]
According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million
Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000
people being killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth
defects.
[1] Women had higher rates of miscarriage and stillbirths, as did livestock such as cattle, water buffalo, and pigs.
[37]
Children in the areas where Agent Orange was used have been affected
and have multiple health problems, including cleft palate, mental
disabilities, hernias, and
extra fingers and toes.
[38] In the 1970s, high levels of dioxin were found in the
breast milk of South Vietnamese women, and in the blood of U.S. soldiers who had served in Vietnam.
[39]
The most affected zones are the mountainous area along Truong Son (Long
Mountains) and the border between Vietnam and Cambodia. The affected
residents are living in substandard conditions with many genetic
diseases.
[40]
About 28 of the former US military bases in Vietnam where the
herbicides were stored and loaded onto airplanes may still have high
level of dioxins in the soil, posing a health threat to the surrounding
communities. Extensive testing for dioxin contamination has been
conducted at the former US airbases in Da Nang, Phu Cat and Bien Hoa.
Some of the soil and sediment on the bases have extremely high levels of
dioxin requiring remediation. The Da Nang Airbase has dioxin
contamination up to 350 times higher than international recommendations
for action.
[41][42]
The contaminated soil and sediment continue to affect the citizens of
Vietnam, poisoning their food chain and causing illnesses, serious skin
diseases and a variety of cancers in the lungs, larynx, and prostate.
[38]
Ecological effects
About 17.8% (3,100,000 ha) of the total forested area of Vietnam was
sprayed during the war, which dramatically disrupted ecological
equilibrium. Furthermore, the persistent nature of dioxins, erosion
caused by loss of protective tree cover, and loss of seeding forest
stock, meant reforestation was difficult or impossible in many areas.
[43] Many defoliated forest areas were quickly invaded by aggressive pioneer species, such as
bamboo and
cogon grass, which make it unlikely the forests will be able to regenerate. Animal species
diversity was also significantly impacted: in one study, a Harvard biologist found 24 species of birds and 5 species of
mammals
in a sprayed forest, while in two adjacent sections of unsprayed forest
there were 145 and 170 species of birds and 30 and 55 species of
mammals.
[44]
Dioxins from Agent Orange have persisted in the Vietnamese
environment since the war, settling in the soil and sediment and
entering into food chain through the animals and fish that feed in the
contaminated areas. Movement of dioxins through the
food web has resulted in
bioconcentration and
biomagnification.
[45] The areas most heavily contaminated with dioxins are the sites of former U.S. air bases.
[46]
Sociopolitical effects
The
RAND Corporation's
Memorandum 5446-ISA/ARPA
states: "the fact that the VC obtain most of their food from the
neutral rural population dictates the destruction of civilian crops ...
if they (the VC) are to be hampered by the crop destruction program, it
will be necessary to destroy large portions of the rural economy –
probably 50% or more".
[47]
Rural-to-urban migration rates dramatically increased in South
Vietnam, as peasants escaped the war in the countryside by fleeing to
the U.S.-dominated cities. The urban population in South Vietnam nearly
tripled, growing from 2.8 million people in 1958 to 8 million by 1971.
The rapid flow of people led to a fast-paced and uncontrolled
urbanization; an estimated 1.5 million people were living in Saigon
slums.
[7]
Effects on U.S. veterans
Some studies showed that veterans who served in the South during the
war have increased rates of cancer, and nerve, digestive, skin and
respiratory disorders. Veterans from the south had higher rates of
throat cancer, acute/chronic leukemia,
Hodgkin's lymphoma
and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer,
soft tissue sarcoma and liver cancer. With the exception of liver
cancer, these are the same conditions the US Veterans Administration has
determined may be associated with exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin, and
are on the list of conditions eligible for compensation and treatment.
[36]
Military personnel who loaded airplanes and helicopters used in Ranch
Hand probably sustained some of the heaviest exposures. Members of the
Army Chemical Corps,
who stored and mixed herbicides and defoliated the perimeters of
military bases, and mechanics who worked on the helicopters and planes,
are also thought to have had some of the heaviest exposures. However,
this same group of individuals has not shown remarkably higher
incidences of the associated diseases. Others with potentially heavy
exposures included members of
U.S. Army Special Forces units who defoliated remote campsites, and members of
U.S. Navy river units who cleared base perimeters.
[48] Military members who served on
Okinawa also claim to have been exposed to the chemical but there is no verifiable evidence to corroborate these claims.
[49]
While in Vietnam, the veterans were told not to worry, and were persuaded the chemical was harmless.
[50]
After returning home, Vietnam veterans began to suspect their ill
health or the instances of their wives having miscarriages or children
born with birth defects might be related to Agent Orange and the other
toxic herbicides to which they were exposed in Vietnam. Veterans began
to file claims in 1977 to the Department of Veterans Affairs for
disability payments for health care for conditions they believed were
associated with exposure to Agent Orange, or more specifically, dioxin,
but their claims were denied unless they could prove the condition began
when they were in the service or within one year of their discharge.
By April 1993, the Department of Veterans Affairs had only
compensated 486 victims, although it had received disability claims from
39,419 soldiers who had been exposed to Agent Orange while serving in
Vietnam.
[51]
Legal and diplomatic proceedings
US veterans class action lawsuit against manufacturers
Since at least 1978, several lawsuits have been filed against the companies which produced Agent Orange, among them
Dow Chemical,
Monsanto, and
Diamond Shamrock.
Hy Mayerson of
The Mayerson Law Offices, P.C. was an early pioneer in Agent Orange litigation, working with
environmental attorney Victor Yannacone
in 1980 on the first class-action suits against wartime manufacturers
of Agent Orange. In meeting Dr. Ronald A. Codario, one of the first
civilian doctors to see afflicted patients, Mayerson, so impressed by
the fact a physician would show so much interest in a Vietnam veteran,
forwarded more than a thousand pages of information on Agent Orange and
the effects of dioxin on animals and humans to Codario's office the day
after he was first contacted by the doctor.
[52] The corporate defendants sought to escape culpability by blaming everything on the U.S. government.
[53]
The Mayerson law firm, with Sgt.
Charles E. Hartz as their principal client, filed the first U.S. Agent Orange class-action lawsuit, in
Pennsylvania in 1980, for the injuries soldiers in Vietnam suffered through exposure to toxic dioxins in the
defoliant.
[54] Attorney Hy Mayerson co-wrote the brief that certified the Agent Orange Product Liability action as a
class action, the largest ever filed as of its filing.
[55] Hartz's
deposition was one of the first ever taken in America, and the first for an Agent Orange trial, for the purpose of preserving
testimony at trial, as it was understood that Hartz would not live to see the trial because of a
brain tumor that began to develop while he was a member of
Tiger Force,
Special Forces, and
LRRPs in Vietnam.
[56][57]
The firm also located and supplied critical research to the Veterans’
lead expert, Dr. Ronald A. Codario, M.D., including about 100 articles
from toxicology journals dating back more than a decade, as well as data
about where herbicides had been sprayed, what the effects of dioxin had
been on animals and humans, and every accident in factories where
herbicides were produced or dioxin was a contaminant of some chemical
reaction.
[52]
The chemical companies involved denied that there was a link between
Agent Orange and the veterans' medical problems. However, on May 7,
1984, seven chemical companies settled the class-action suit out of
court just hours before jury selection was to begin. The companies
agreed to pay $180 million as compensation if the veterans dropped all
claims against them. Slightly over 45% of the sum was ordered to be paid
by Monsanto alone.
[58][59]
Many veterans who were victims of Agent Orange exposure were outraged
the case had been settled instead of going to court, and felt they had
been betrayed by the lawyers. "Fairness Hearings" were held in five
major American cities, where veterans and their families discussed their
reactions to the settlement, and condemned the actions of the lawyers
and courts, demanding the case be heard before a jury of their peers.
Federal Judge Julius Weinstein refused the appeals, claiming the
settlement was "fair and just". By 1989, the veterans' fears were
confirmed when it was decided how the money from the settlement would be
paid out. A totally disabled Vietnam veteran would receive a maximum of
$12,000 spread out over the course of 10 years. Furthermore, by
accepting the settlement payments, disabled veterans would become
ineligible for many state benefits that provided far more monetary
support than the settlement, such as food stamps, public assistance, and
government pensions. A widow of a Vietnam veteran who died of Agent
Orange exposure would only receive $3700.
[60]
In 2004, Monsanto spokesman Jill Montgomery said Monsanto should not
be liable at all for injuries or deaths caused by Agent Orange, saying:
"We are sympathetic with people who believe they have been injured and
understand their concern to find the cause, but reliable scientific
evidence indicates that Agent Orange is not the cause of serious
long-term health effects."
[61]
New Jersey Agent Orange Commission
In 1980,
New Jersey
created the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission, the first state
commission created to study its effects. The commission's research
project in association with
Rutgers University was called "The Pointman Project". It was disbanded by Governor
Christine Todd Whitman in 1996.
[62]
During Pointman I, commission researchers devised ways to determine
small dioxin levels in blood. Prior to this, such levels could only be
found in the
adipose (fat) tissue. The project studied dioxin (
TCDD)
levels in blood as well as in adipose tissue in a small group of
Vietnam veterans who had been exposed to Agent Orange and compared them
to those of a matched control group; the levels were found to be higher
in the former group.
[63]
The second phase of the project continued to examine and compare dioxin levels in various groups of Vietnam veterans, including
Army,
Marines and
brown water riverboat Navy personnel.
US Congress
In 1991, the US Congress enacted the
Agent Orange Act, giving the
Department of Veterans Affairs
the authority to declare certain conditions 'presumptive' to exposure
to Agent Orange/dioxin, making these veterans who served in Vietnam
eligible to receive treatment and compensation for these conditions.
[64]
The same law required the National Academy of Sciences to periodically
review the science on dioxin and herbicides used in Vietnam to inform
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs about the strength of the scientific
evidence showing association between exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin and
certain conditions.
[65]
Through this process, the list of 'presumptive' conditions has grown
since 1991, and currently the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has
listed prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, multiple myeloma, type II
diabetes, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, soft tissue
sarcoma,
chloracne,
porphyria cutanea tarda, peripheral neuropathy, chronic lymphocytic
leukemia, and spina bifida in children of veterans exposed to Agent
Orange as conditions associated with exposure to the herbicide. This
list now includes B cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia,
Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease, these last three having
been added on August 31, 2010. Several highly placed individuals in
government are voicing concerns about whether some of the diseases on
the list should, in fact, actually have been included.
[66]
U.S./Vietnamese government negotiations
In 2002, Vietnam and the US held a joint conference on Human Health
and Environmental Impacts of Agent Orange. Following the conference, the
US
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS) began scientific exchanges between the US and Vietnam, and
began discussions for a joint research project on the human health
impacts of Agent Orange.
[67]
These negotiations broke down in 2005, when neither side could agree
on the research protocol and the research project was cancelled. More
progress has been made on the environmental front. In 2005, the first
US-Vietnam workshop on remediation of dioxin was held.
[67]
Starting in 2005, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began to work with the Vietnamese government to measure the level of dioxin at the
Da Nang Airbase.
Also in 2005, the Joint Advisory Committee on Agent Orange, made up of
representatives of Vietnamese and US government agencies, was
established. The committee has been meeting yearly to explore areas of
scientific cooperation, technical assistance and environmental
remediation of dioxin.
[68]
A breakthrough in the diplomatic stalemate on this issue occurred as a
result of United States President George W. Bush's state visit to
Vietnam in November 2006. In the joint statement, President Bush and
President Triet
agreed "further joint efforts to address the environmental
contamination near former dioxin storage sites would make a valuable
contribution to the continued development of their bilateral
relationship."
[69][unreliable source?]
In late May 2007, President Bush signed into law a supplemental
spending bill for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan that included an
earmark of $3 million specifically for funding for programs for the
remediation of dioxin 'hotspots' on former US military bases, and for
public health programs for the surrounding communities;
[70] some authors consider this to be completely inadequate, pointing out that the U.S. airbase in
Da Nang, alone, will cost $14 million to clean up, and that three others are estimated to require $60 million for cleanup.
[12]
The appropriation was renewed in the fiscal year 2009 and again in FY
2010. An additional $12 million was appropriated in the fiscal year 2010
in the Supplemental Appropriations Act and a total of $18.5 million
appropriated for fiscal year 2011.
[71]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated during a visit to Hanoi in
October 2010 that the US government would begin work on the clean-up of
dioxin contamination at the Da Nang airbase.
[72]
In June 2011 a ceremony was held at Da Nang airport to mark the start
of US-funded decontamination of dioxin hotspots in Vietnam. $32m has so
far been allocated by the US congress to fund the program.
[73]
A $43 million dollar project began in the summer of 2012, as Vietnam
and the U.S. forge closer ties to boost trade and counter China's rising
influence in the disputed
South China Sea.
[74]
Vietnamese victims class action lawsuit in U.S. courts
On January 31, 2004, a
victim's rights group, the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (VAVA), filed a lawsuit in the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in
Brooklyn,
against several U.S. companies for liability in causing personal
injury, by developing and producing the chemical. Dow Chemical and
Monsanto were the two largest producers of Agent Orange for the U.S.
military, and were named in the suit, along with the dozens of other
companies (Diamond Shamrock, Uniroyal, Thompson Chemicals, Hercules,
etc.). On March 10, 2005, Judge
Jack B. Weinstein
of the Eastern District – who had presided over the 1984 US veterans
class action lawsuit – dismissed the lawsuit, ruling there was no legal
basis for the
plaintiffs' claims. He concluded Agent Orange was not considered a poison under
international law
at the time of its use by the U.S.; the U.S. was not prohibited from
using it as a herbicide; and the companies which produced the substance
were not liable for the method of its use by the government. The U.S.
government was not a party in the lawsuit, due to
sovereign immunity,
and the court ruled the chemical companies, as contractors of the US
government, shared the same immunity. The case was appealed and heard by
the
Second Circuit Court of Appeals
on June 18, 2007. The Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of the
case, stating the herbicides used during the war were not intended to be
used to poison humans and therefore did not violate international law.
[75] The
US Supreme Court declined to consider the case.
Three judges on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan
heard the appeal on June 18, 2007. They upheld Weinstein's ruling to
dismiss the case. They ruled that, though the herbicides contained a
dioxin (a known poison), they were not intended to be used as a poison
on humans. Therefore, they were not considered a chemical weapon and
thus not a violation of international law. A further review of the case
by the whole panel of judges of the Court of Appeals also confirmed this
decision. The lawyers for the Vietnamese filed a petition to the US
Supreme Court to hear the case. On March 2, 2009, the Supreme Court
denied
certiorari and refused to reconsider the ruling of the Court of Appeals.
[76]
In a November 2004
Zogby International
poll of 987 people, 79% of respondents thought the US chemical
companies which produced Agent Orange defoliant should compensate US
soldiers who were affected by the toxic chemical used during the war in
Vietnam. 51% said they supported compensation for Vietnamese Agent
Orange victims.
[77]
Help for those affected in Vietnam
To assist those who have been affected by Agent Orange/dioxin, the
Vietnamese have established "peace villages", which each host between 50
and 100 victims, giving them medical and psychological help. As of
2006, there were 11 such villages, thus granting some social protection
to fewer than a thousand victims. U.S. veterans of the war in Vietnam
and individuals who are aware and sympathetic to the impacts of Agent
Orange have supported these programs in Vietnam. An international group
of veterans from the U.S. and its allies during the Vietnam War working
with their former enemy — veterans from the Vietnam Veterans
Association — established the Vietnam Friendship Village
[78] outside of
Hanoi.
The center provides medical care, rehabilitation and vocational
training for children and veterans from Vietnam who have been affected
by Agent Orange. In 1998, The
Vietnam Red Cross
established the Vietnam Agent Orange Victims Fund to provide direct
assistance to families throughout Vietnam that have been affected. In
2003, the
Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange
(VAVA) was formed. In addition to filing the lawsuit against the
chemical companies, VAVA provides medical care, rehabilitation services
and financial assistance to those injured by Agent Orange.
[79]
The Vietnamese government provides small monthly stipends to more
than 200,000 Vietnamese believed affected by the herbicides; this
totaled $40.8 million in 2008 alone. The Vietnam Red Cross has raised
more than $22 million to assist the ill or disabled, and several U.S.
foundations, United Nations agencies, European governments and
nongovernmental organizations have given a total of about $23 million
for site cleanup, reforestation, health care and other services to those
in need.
[80]
Vuong Mo of the Vietnam News Agency described one of centers:
[81]
- "May is 13, but she knows nothing, is unable to talk fluently, nor
walk with ease due to for her bandy legs. Her father is dead and she has
four elder brothers, all mentally retarded ... The students are all
disabled, retarded and of different ages. Teaching them is a hard job.
They are of the 3rd grade but many of them find it hard to do the
reading. Only a few of them can. Their pronunciation is distorted due to
their twisted lips and their memory is quite short. They easily forget
what they've learned ... In the Village, it is quite hard to tell the
kids' exact ages. Some in their twenties have a physical statures as
small as the 7- or 8-years-old. They find it difficult to feed
themselves, much less have mental ability or physical capacity for work.
No one can hold back the tears when seeing the heads turning round
unconsciously, the bandy arms managing to push the spoon of food into
the mouths with awful difficulty ... Yet they still keep smiling,
singing in their great innocence, at the presence of some visitors,
craving for something beautiful."
On June 16, 2010, members of
the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin
unveiled a comprehensive 10-year Declaration and Plan of Action to
address the toxic legacy of Agent Orange and other herbicides in
Vietnam. The Plan of Action was released as an Aspen Institute
publication and calls upon the U.S. and Vietnamese governments to join
with other governments, foundations, businesses, and nonprofits in a
partnership to clean up dioxin "hot spots" in Vietnam and to expand
humanitarian services for people with disabilities there.
[82][83][84]
On September 16, 2010, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) acknowledged the
work of the Dialogue Group by releasing a statement on the floor of the
United States Senate. The statement urges the U.S. government to take
the Plan of Action's recommendations into account in developing a
multi-year plan of activities to address the Agent Orange/dioxin legacy.
[85]
Use outside Vietnam
While 'Agent Orange' was only used between 1965 and 1970, 2,4-D,
2,4,5-T and other herbicides were used by the US military from the late
1940s through the 1970s. There is, however, no scientific evidence that
these herbicides contained the same levels of dioxin as those used in
Vietnam.
[86][87]
United States
In 1971 the C-123 aircraft used for spraying Agent Orange were
returned to the United States and assigned various East Coast USAF
Reserve squadrons, and then employed in traditional airlift missions
between 1972-1982. In 1994 testing by the Air Force identified some
former spray aircraft as "heavily contaminated" with dioxin residue.
Inquiries by aircrew veterans in 2011 brought a decision by the US
Department of Veterans Affairs opining that not enough dioxin residue
remained to injure these post-Vietnam War veterans. On 26 January 2012
the US Center For Disease Control's Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry challenged this with their finding that former spray
aircraft were indeed contaminated and the aircrews exposed to harmful
levels of dioxin.
In 1978, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suspended spraying of Agent Orange in
National Forests, due to a threefold increase in miscarriages in women living near forests that had been sprayed.
[88][89]
On December 23, 1982, the EPA announced it had identified dangerous levels of dioxin in the soil of
Times Beach, Missouri.
Panic spread through the town, with many illnesses, miscarriages and
animal deaths attributed to the dioxin. By 1985, the town was evacuated
except for one elderly couple who refused to leave, and the site was
quarantined. Residents were shunned in their new communities by people
who feared the effects of exposure to dioxin were contagious.
[90]
A December 2006 Department of Defense report listed Agent Orange
testing, storage, and disposal sites at 32 locations throughout the
United States, as well as in Canada, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Korea, and
in the Pacific Ocean.
[91]
The Veteran Administration has also acknowledged that Agent Orange was
used domestically by U.S. forces in test sites throughout the US.
Eglin Air Force Base in Florida was one of the primary testing sites throughout the 1960s.
[92]
Thailand
Vietnam-era Veterans whose service involved duty on or near the
perimeters of military bases in Thailand anytime between February 28,
1961 and May 7, 1975 may have been exposed to herbicides and may qualify
for VA benefits. A claim for direct exposure is possible if the
individual can show through verifiable proof they worked or lived in the
affected areas of the bases in Thailand.
Report on defense tactics in Thailand A recently declassified Department of Defense (DoD) Report written in 1973,
"Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report: Base Defense in Thailand 1968-1972,"
(8.3 MB, PDF) contains evidence that there was a significant use of
herbicides on the fenced-in perimeters of military bases in Thailand to
remove foliage that provided cover for enemy forces.
VA determined that herbicides used on the Thailand base perimeters
may have been tactical and procured from Vietnam, or a strong,
commercial type resembling tactical herbicides.
[93]
Korea
Agent Orange was used in Korea in the late 1960s.
[94] Republic of Korea troops were the only personnel involved in the spraying, which occurred along the
Korean Demilitarized Zone
(DMZ). "Citing declassified U.S. Department of Defense documents,
Korean officials fear thousands of its soldiers may have come into
contact with the herbicide in the late 1960s and early 1970s. According
to one top government official, as many as '30,000 Korean veterans are
suffering from illness related to their exposure'. The exact number of
GIs who may have been exposed is unknown. But C. David Benbow, a North
Carolina attorney who served as a sergeant with Co. C, 3rd Battalion,
23rd Infantry Regiment,
2nd Infantry Division, along the DMZ in 1968–69, estimates as many as '4,000 soldiers at any given time' could have been affected.".
[95][unreliable source?]
In 1999, about 20,000 South Koreans filed two separated lawsuits
against U.S. companies, seeking more than $5 billion in damages. After
losing a decision in 2002, they filed an appeal.
[citation needed]
In January 2006, the South Korean Appeals Court ordered Dow Chemical
and Monsanto to pay $62 million in compensation to about 6,800 people.
The ruling acknowledged that "the
defendants
failed to ensure safety as the defoliants manufactured by the
defendants had higher levels of dioxins than standard", and, quoting the
U.S. National Academy of Science report, declared that there was a
"causal relationship" between Agent Orange and 11 diseases, including
cancers of the lung, larynx and prostate. The judges failed to
acknowledge "the relationship between the chemical and peripheral
neuropathy, the disease most widespread among Agent Orange victims"
according to the
Mercury News.
[citation needed]
The United States local press KPHO-TV in Phoenix, Arizona alleged that the United States Army had buried Agent Orange in
Camp Carroll, the U.S. Army base located in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea.
[96]
It is based on the claim of three U.S. Army veterans. They claimed
approximately 250 drums of Agent Orange were buried at Camp Carroll in
1978. The South Korean Ministry of Environment announced that they will
request cooperative investigation at Camp Carroll officially.
[97]
The USFK issued a statement that confirmed that barrels were buried
there, but all (plus an additional 60 tons of soil) were removed in
1996.
[98]
Currently, veterans who provide evidence meeting VA requirements for
service in Vietnam, and who can medically establish that anytime after
this 'presumptive exposure' they developed any medical problems on the
list of presumptive diseases, may receive compensation from the VA.
Certain veterans who served in Korea and are able to prove they were
assigned to certain specified around the DMZ during a specific time
frame are afforded similar presumption.
[citation needed]
The differences in requirements between Vietnam and Korea service stem
from the fact that congress has not made any laws to provide for the
same sweeping presumption of exposure similar to the Agent Orange Act of
1991 for Korean veterans.
[citation needed]
Canada
New Brunswick
The U.S. military, with the permission of the Canadian government,
[99] tested herbicides, including Agent Orange, in the forests near the
Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick in 1966 and 1967. On September 12, 2007,
Greg Thompson,
Minister of Veterans Affairs, announced that the
government of Canada was offering a one-time
ex gratia payment of $20,000 as the compensation package for Agent Orange exposure at CFB Gagetown.
[100]
On July 12, 2005, Merchant Law Group LLP on behalf of over 1,100
Canadian veterans and civilians who were living in and around the CFB
Gagetown filed a lawsuit to pursue
class action litigation concerning Agent Orange and Agent Purple with the
Federal Court of Canada.
[101]
On August 4, 2009, the case was rejected by the court due to lack of evidence. The ruling was appealed.
[102][103]
Veterans Affairs Canada Agent Orange Benefits Rev 1.0
[104]
Ontario
On February 17, 2011, the
Toronto Star revealed that the same chemicals used to strip the jungles of Vietnam were also employed to clear extensive plots of
Crown land in
Northern Ontario.
[105] The same day, in response to the Toronto Star article, the
Ontario provincial government launched a probe into the use of Agent Orange.
[106]
On February 18, 2011,
Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources widened the probe of Agent Orange spraying to include all areas of the province where government managed forests on Crown land.
[107]
The Toronto Star reported that, "records from the 1950s, 1960s and
1970s show forestry workers, often students and junior rangers, spent
weeks at a time as human markers holding red, helium-filled balloons on
fishing lines while low-flying planes sprayed toxic herbicides including
an infamous chemical mixture known as Agent Orange on the brush and the
boys below."
[105]
British Columbia
Records show tens of thousands of gallons of the toxic mixture were
applied to clear brush near highways and along power lines in the late
1960s and early 1970s – and in some cases the substance was sprayed next
to homes. In B.C., the mix of 2-4-D and 2-4-5-T was called "Type B Weed
and Brush Killer" in government invoices. Sometimes, the engineers
ordered 2-4-5-T by itself, and dubbed it "Type C Weed and Brush Killer."
In total, about 26,000 gallons of Type B Weed and Brush Killer were
ordered between 1965 and 1972. About 10,000 gallons of Type C Weed and
Brush Killer were ordered in the same time period. The barrels were
shipped to all four of the regions of B.C. as designated by the Ministry
of Highways: Kamloops, Nelson, Prince George and Vancouver.
In 1976, documents from BC Hydro show 2-4-5-T and 2-4-D was sprayed
along Hydro lines Vernon-Monashee and Nicola-Brenda circuits. The
documents also say "brushkiller" was sprayed in Pemberton and Daisy
Lake.
[108]
Queensland, Australia
In 2008 Australian researcher Jean Williams claimed that cancer rates
in the town of Innisfail, Queensland were 10 times higher than the
state average due to secret testing of Agent Orange by the Australian
military scientists during the Vietnam War. Williams, who had won the
Order of Australia medal for her research on the effects of chemicals on
U.S. war veterans, based her allegations on Australian government
reports found in the Australian War Memorial's archives. A former
soldier, Ted Bosworth, backed up the claims, saying that he had been
involved in the secret testing. Neither Williams or Bosworth have
produced verifiable evidence to support their claims. The Queensland
health department determined that cancer rates in Innisfail were no
higher than those in other parts of the state.
[109]
New Zealand
The use of Agent Orange has been controversial in New Zealand,
because of the exposure of New Zealand troops in Vietnam and because of
the production of Agent Orange for Vietnam and other users at an Ivon
Watkins-Dow chemical plant in Paritutu,
New Plymouth. There have been continuing claims, as yet unproven, that the suburb of Paritutu has also been polluted; see
New Zealand in the Vietnam War.
[110]
There are cases of New Zealand soldiers developing cancers such as bone
cancer but none have been scientifically connected to exposure to
herbicides.
Brazil
The Brazilian government used herbicides to defoliate a large section of the
Amazon rainforest so that
Alcoa could build the
Tucuruí dam
to power mining operations. Large areas of rainforest were destroyed,
along with the homes and livelihoods of thousands of rural peasants and
indigenous tribes.
[111]
Malayasia
Small scale defoliation experiments using 2-4-D and 2-4-5-T were conducted by the British during the
Malayan Emergency
in 1951. Areas of jungle close to roadways were cleared using chemical
defoliation to help prevent ambushes by communist insurgents. There is
no scientific evidence that these herbicides contained dioxins similar
to those found in any of the so-called "Agent" herbicides used in
Vietnam.
[112] However, historical records show that
Super-Orange
(SO), also called DOW Herbicide M-3393, which was Agent Orange that was
mixed with picloram, is known to have been tested by representatives
from
Fort Detrick
and DOW chemical in Texas, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii and later in
Malaysia in a cooperative project with the International Rubber Research
Institute.
[113] Picloram, an ingredient in Agent White, was contaminated by
Hexachlorobenzene
(HCB), a dioxin-like carcinogen. Therefore, Super-Orange was
contaminated with both Dioxin and Hexachlorobenzene. Malaysia does not
appear on the list of countries where Agent Orange was used outside of
Vietnam that is maintained by the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Okinawa and Johnston Atoll
The
Air Force operation to remove Herbicide Orange from Vietnam in 1972 was named
Operation Pacer IVY while the operation to destroy the Agent Orange stored at
Johnston Atoll in 1977 was named
Operation Pacer HO. The records of the disposition of Agent Orange are now associated with the records of
Operation Red Hat. According to a 2003 publication produced and available from the
United States Army Chemical Materials Agency entitled "An Ecological Assessment of Johnston Atoll",
in
1972, the US Air Force also brought about 25,000 55-gallon (208L) drums
of the chemical, Herbicide Orange (HO) to Johnston Island that
originated from Vietnam and was stored on Okinawa.[114]
Aspartate and glutamate act as neurotransmitters in the brain by facilitating the transmission of information from neuron to neuron. Too much aspartate or glutamate in the brain kills certain neurons by allowing the influx of too much calcium into the cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals, which kill the cells. The neural cell damage that can be caused by excessive aspartate and glutamate is why they are referred to as "excitotoxins." They "excite" or stimulate the neural cells to death.
