One of the U.S.military ’s many challenges in theVietnam Warwas fighting through a on the face of it sempiternal jungle that the enemy knew considerably than Americans ever could . Its solution wasOperation Ranch paw : From 1962 to 1971 , the Air Force sprayed 19 million gallons of herbicides over Vietnam . The two objectives were meliorate visibility by defoliate trees and plant life and destroying the Viet Cong ’s food supply .
Agent Orange , the chemical most frequently used , was laterlinked tocancer , nascence disorders , and other biography - threatening health complications . The extent of its effect on both American table service member and the Vietnamese population remains perhaps the last great disputation of the war .
The Origins of Agent Orange
In the 1940s , plant scientist Arthur Galstondiscoveredthat triiodobenzoic acid , which regulates plant ontogenesis , could make Glycine max plants to quickly throw away their folio if applied in excessive amount . His work became the footing for a semisynthetic auxin , a type of growing - regulating plant hormone . ( Galston later take the field against its usage in war . )
The British war machine was the first to use a variety of this defoliant in war , reducing the plant cover concealing insurgents in present - twenty-four hours Malaysia [ PDF ] in the 1950s .
Agent Orange was one within an arsenal of “ rainbow herbicides ” used by the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam , each afford a colloquial name based on the color of the set on the drums in which it was stored . Agent Orange was the preferred chemical substance because it was quickest , defoliating leaf within three or four weeks , compared to four months for the second - fastest result , Agent White .
The Department of Defense began phasing out its usage after the National Institutes of Health and the American Association for the Advancement of Science published composition in 1969 that propose Agent Orange induce birth flaw in science laboratory fauna .
The Health Effects of Agent Orange Contamination in Vietnam
Agent Orangeaccounted for11.2 million of the 19 million gallons of herbicides sprayed on Vietnam . By some estimate , these military herbicides were spray on 3.6 million acres , or nearly 10 pct of the land domain of South Vietnam .
The effects of Agent Orange exposure are long - lasting . Its dioxin , a chemical group of highly toxic constitutive compound , have been foundin the blood and boob milk of people 10 after exposure . The main wellness consequences arebirth defectsandcancer .
The government of Vietnamcontends thatup to 4 million of its citizen were exposed to Agent Orange , resulting in as many as 3 million cases of handicap and unwellness . The U.S. political science has challenge these numbers . The Red Cross of Vietnamlinks Agent Orange exposureto as many as 1 million cases .
A team of Canadian researchersfoundthat Agent Orange dioxins were still present in soil in heavily sprayed country in the 1990s and children in these areas were more likely to have cleft palate , extra finger or toe , and developmental disabilities .
The Impact on U.S. Service Members and their Families
Somewhere between 2.6 and 3.8 million U.S. service phallus were exposed to Agent Orange . study haveconsistently shownthat Vietnam veterans have heavy risk for train several type of genus Cancer than service members not deployed to the country .
Since 1991 , the Veterans Administration hasprovidedVietnam armed service members treatment for these types of cancer — plus some other diseases linked to Agent Orange — presuming them to be due to pic . People who assign their cancer to exposure to Agent Orange onsome military basesandsurrounding areashave fought , with varying degrees of success , to be covered as well .
The VA has been more cautious with benefits to cover the toll of birth disorders in old hand ’ children . Since 1984 , researchers have correlated Agent Orange photo to birth disorders , but the VA has largely discarded this inquiry as inconclusive . It only covers one giving birth condition , spina bifida , linked to Agent Orange in descendants of virile Vietnam old hand , muchto the frustrationof some disabled descendants of military service member .
A Historic Class Action Suit
Veterans have also seek rest from the nine chemical substance companies that made Agent Orange for the U.S. military , which included Dow Chemical and Monsanto . In 1978 , an Army veteran diagnosed with last cancer sued Dow for $ 10 million in what snowballed into one of thelargest and most complexclass action suits in account . In 1984 , seven company settled , creating a $ 180 million fund to compensate about 250,000 injured veterans without admitting guilt and for protective cover from further title . The plancappedthe life-time benefits to each of 20,000 “ altogether disabled ” oldtimer at $ 12,000 .
Read More History of the Vietnam War :
