The Agent Of Agent Orange

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, better known as DDT is a notorious organochlorine pesticide that is created by the reaction of chloral with chlorobenzene in combination with sulfuric acid(Britannica p.1). It was first used as an insecticide in 1939 by Hermann Muller in Switzerland. DDT works as an insecticideby acting on the nervous system to generate the same neural impulse over and over causing body tremors and eventually death. DDT is an extremely stable chemical compound containing C14H9Cl5 which leads to some significant resistance issues when used as a pesticide. The most problematic property of DDT is its high fat solubility and extremely low water solubility meaning that it has a tendency to stick around in the environment for longer than we want since it is readily taken up in the bodies of nearby mammals.

Agent Orange may not have been the first herbicide, however, one could argue that it is the deadliest. Dao Chemical made agent orange in 1943. Taking 2 commonly used herbicides and mixing them together created Agent Orange. They mixed, “2,4-D and 2,4,5-T.” (Agent Orange.” UXL Encyclopedia of Science). Dao Chemical knew how dangerous the chemicals that they were mixing together. There was previous knowledge that2,4,5-T can cause problems in humans, and they only mixed it with something more dangerous: “One chemical used to make Agent Orange was contaminates with a dioxin, TCDD” (Agent Orange.” UXL Encyclopedia of Science). Dioxins are very toxic to humans, animal, and the environment. Once a dioxin is released, the dioxin will remain present in the soil. During the Vietnam War the United Sates army covered over 4 million acres with Agent Orange. During the years, “1962 and 1971, over 10.5 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed on Vietnam.” (Agent Orange).

48. The purpose of Agent Orange was to strip leaves from trees and shrubs to turn lands into wasteland.

The first chemical to be discussed is Agent Orange; Agent Orange has been identified as a human carcinogen; this chemical was introduced during the Vietnam War as a defoliant for the thick Vietnamese jungle. Although Agent Orange contained a variety of herbicides, most of the pesticide contained Phenoxyacetic acid – based herbicide 2,4-D and 2,4, 5-T. The most common mixture

The first chemical to be discussed is Agent Orange; Agent Orange has been identified as a human carcinogen; this chemical was introduced during the Vietnam war as a defoliant for the thick Vietnamese jungle. Although Agent Orange contained a variety of herbicides, most of the pesticide contained Phenoxyacetic acid – based herbicide 2,4-D and 2,4, 5-T. The most common mixture of the Agent Orange used during

Agent orange was used in the vietnam war from 1961-1971 and it is a mixture of 2 herbicides.

In both past and present, the traces of Agent Orange have drastically affected the ecosystems of Vietnam. The causes for the effects of Agent Orange are due to its main, and most dangerous component: Dioxin. Many of the separate Agent compounds contained dioxin, but Agent Orange contained Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin (TCDD,) one of the most potent forms of Dioxin. TCDD is responsible for many of the sub-lethal effects on wildlife in Agent Orange spray zones, causing tumors and birth defects, along with a variety of cancers to animals who ingest it [HowStuffWorks Science]. Almost every living animal has small amounts of Dioxin located in their body fat, but the mutagenic effects of Dioxin occur when it enters an ecosystem in large amounts. The body can process small amounts of dioxin, but in vast quantities, like the millions of gallons of Agent Orange dropped on the forests of Vietnam, it is a very powerful poison. After the Dioxin soaked up into the plants and ground of the Vietnam forest it worked its way up the food chain, as herbivores ate the Dioxin-infused grass, then become Dioxin-laced themselves, eventually everything became infected with the Dioxin and slowly died out, eventually, all the plants and animals were gone, leaving a barren wasteland. That is how the forests of Vietnam eventually withered away, and some did not return [HowStuffWorks Science]. This is very clearly a violation of environmental justice,

Dow Chemical Company developed Agent Orange at Fort Detrick in Maryland. The chemical got its name from the color-coded stripe that was painted on its 55 gallon storage drums. There were many different herbicides used in Vietnam, such as agents blue, white, purple, and green. Agent Orange was the most successful herbicide, quickly killing broad leaf vegetation; therefore, it was the most widely used. The defoliant worked by accelerating the growth in plant cells until the plant prematurely dies (Wilcox x). Agent Orange was composed of an equal mixture of the herbicides 2, 4-D (n-buytl-2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetate) and 2, 4, 5-T (n-butyl-2, 4, 5- trichlorophenoxyacetate) and it was developed for chemical warfare. Altogether 90,000 tons of herbicides were used: of that 90% was used for defoliation, 8% was used for crop destruction, and 2% was used for clearing base perimeters (Dunnigan and Nofi 136). By the end of Operation Ranch Hand, 4.5 million acres of Vietnam had been defoliated.

created to try to deprive North Vietnamese soldiers, or guerillas, of food, cover, and other resources during the war. The U.S. sprayed nearly 20 million gallons in all from 1962 to 1971 in Vietnam, eastern Laos, and parts of Cambodia as part of Operation Ranch Hand. Unfortunately, the effects of Agent Orange did not just hurt the Viet Cong soldiers and the environment, but also many South Vietnam soldiers and U.S. soldiers who had to go through the pesticide infested area. The entire environment that it covered was harmed very substantially and nearly every person who came in contact with it now suffers from an illness or has a very increased risk of nerve, digestive, skin, and respiratory disorders, as well as numerous cancers. The ruminants from the chemical have also had effects on the offspring of veterans with it in their system; anywhere from birth defects to cancers have been reported from the chemical

Agent Orange was and herbal defoliant that had proven effective on large area and afforded the ability to be sprayed aerially. It was dispersed from the air on everything and everyone below. The hardest hit was the ground troops because massive amounts were dropped at times in top of them and they would breathe in the fums. The jungle , wildlife men it knew no difference it's jobs was to kill and kill it did the jungles withered and died in a matter of hours exposing the enemy and our brave uniform service members, medical personnel and other support liaison

Because the Americans wanted a more equal chance in fighting the Vietnamese, scientists developed herbicides that contained toxic chemicals. These herbicides were used from 1961-1975, the most famous being Agent Orange, which was used in Vietnam. In order to successfully get rid of the advantageous foliage of the Vietnamese, however, science had to be applied. The two herbicides 2,4 D and 2,4,5 T were used to do this. The combination of these two herbicides contained high, dangerous amounts of toxins. The specific toxin present in Agent Orange, resulting from the two herbicides was fully known as

Agent Orange was widely used throughout the entire Vietnam war by Anti-Communist forces. In 1962, 85% of the food sources in Vietnam were targeted to be sprayed with Agent Orange from the air. Helicopters and planes were used in order to do aerial drops consistently and easily. On top of the use of Agent Orange on the forests of Vietnam, United States military bases used this herbicide daily if not weekly in order to keep the lands on the bases clean and low amounts to no vegetation on the bases. Many United

The plants where gone and the soil had nothing to keep it together from eroding since the roots were gone from the plants. The animals suffered also drinking the toxic water and eating toxic plant with herbicides everywhere. The Agent Orange is not anything good. I found a that from my researches that “
In
the
environment, the
half‐life
varies
 depending
on
the
type
of
soil
and
the
depth
of
penetration.
Sun
will
break
down
dioxinson
leaf
and
soil
surfaces
it
will
last
13
years, depending
on
conditions.
Dioxin
buried or
leached
under
the
surface
or
deep
in
the
sediment
of
rivers
and
other
bodies
of
water
can
have
a
half‐life
of
more
than
100
years.” (Susan Hammond 1). This was also devastating for the Vietnam civilians. The terrible effects were cancer, liver damage, palmary, and heart diseases, defects on reproduction capacity, skin and nervous disorder, children and grandchildren may have severe physical deformities, mental and physical disabilities, diseases and shortened life spans (Jeanne and Marjorie). The human effects last 11-15 year (Susan Hammond

The destruction this chemical caused to the vegetation should have been the first clue that what destroys nature will in due time destroy us. We are the cause for this mess; but we should have been notified much earlier about the potential risk associated with Agent Orange. According to the Executive Summary on Operations Trail Dust and Ranch Hand, "On April 17,1995 Researchers have found that during the spraying of Agent Orange in southern Vietnam, dioxin levels in human tissue were as high as 900 times greater in Vietnamese living in southern Vietnam than those living in Northern Vietnam where Agent Orange was not used."(Arison5) It was not until 1993, when the Institute of Medicine News reported, "Evidence exists linking three cancers and two other health problems with chemicals used in herbicides used in the Vietnam War, a committee of the Institute of Medicine has concluded. Those diseases are soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and Hodgkin's disease as well as chloracne and prophyria cutanea tarda (PCT)."(Turner-Lowe1) An explanation of each disease follows: Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma refers to any group of cancers of lymphoid tissues that multiply. These are found mainly in the lymph nodes and the spleen. The symptoms are related to painless swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck or groin region. There is an attempted

In 1970’s, Monsanto had produced a chemical known as Agent Orange. Agent Orange contained dioxin; a chemical that caused a legal nightmare for Monsanto, a lawsuit was filed against Monsanto on behalf of hundreds of veterans. The repercussions of dioxin would plague the company for years.