The Effects Agent Orange Produced on Health Essay

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,

The war in Vietnam was, and continues to be, one of the most controversial hot button topics in American history. The military’s use of dangerous pesticides, like Agent Orange, is a major part of this controversy. Agent Orange is a defoliant that was widely used to deforest dense jungle areas to reduce both hiding places and food sources for the Vietnamese. During the war, American B-52 bombers released over nineteen million gallons of Agent Orange over the Vietnamese countryside. After ten years of continuous dumping, 1971 finally marked the end of America’s use of Agent Orange and other herbicides. In 1974, the United States government, headed by Richard Nixon, swore the country would never again use chemical weapons in a first strike. (Levy and Scott-Clark)

Agent Orange is a herbicide that was used to defoliate the jungles, meaning the United States military was trying to kill off the trees in Vietnam in order to take away places for North Vietnamese military men could hide (1). The Viet Cong did not fight conventionally against the American military, they could not do so and expect to win. This caused them to resort to guerilla warfare in order to strike and weaken parts of a division or unit. The Americans used Agent Orange as a defense strategy in order to take away hiding places for the Viet Cong to run to after hitting the American units (2). What is especially harmful to those who were around Agent Orange and where it was sprayed was the dioxin, which is a byproduct of one of the chemicals components. People still worked and breathed even with the residue of the toxin still in the air and in the soil, civilians and military personnel alike. The toxin carried in it a carcinogen that got its way into the water and in the soil. Slowly as the years have passed and Vietnam has been hit with a lot of monsoons clean water has washed away the toxic water, but not before it entered into the food chain and then started to accumulate into body fat and tissue in humans that was able to passed from a mother to their child threw breast milk. The American military, by word of the American government, dumped millions of gallons of Agent Orange onto the southern half of

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

exposed to Agent Orange suffered severe ailments to the body. Houk claims that he stopped the study on purely scientific grounds. Nevertheless troops are still suffering from the effects of agent orange including high rates of cancers, abnormalities during

The United States does not want to admit that their used of chemical “as weapons of war on civilian populations violates the laws of war” (). The effort that has been done to compensate those that were exposed is that surviving Vietnam veterans in the United States that were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during their service, may be eligible for VA benefits, such as disability compensation for diseases associated to the exposure, while also their dependents may also be eligible for the benefits. However, the other 3 million surviving Vietnamese victims have not received any compensation or any humanitarian aid from the U.S Government. Also leaving children with birth defects related to Agent Orange effects, without any medical or

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

Mostly consisting of thick costal mangrove, the dense forest spread high across a wet, humid plateau in the countryside of North Vietnam. For centuries its environment provided raw natural resources such as nutrient-rich soil ideal for cultivating rice and flowing streams, providing a reliable water supply to the native people of the region. Now, on a summer day in 1961, it was under attack. Following direct orders, an American Air Force pilot steers his C-123 cargo aircraft over the jungles of Vietnam. In its wake, the aircraft leaves behind a toxic cloud of 2, 4- dicholorophenoxyacetic acid and 2, 4, 5- tricholorophenoxyacetic acid, spewing from its’ cylindrical, orange- stripped, steel drum; this toxic mixture of chemical compounds would become known as the deadly herbicide, Agent Orange. The utilization of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War caused a devastating ripple-effect on Vietnam’s environment that has resulted in adverse effects to its region’s natural environment, the physical bodies of exposed civilians and wartime veterans, and the political landscape of the United States.

I found this article “Did Army Spray Harmful Chemicals on US Cities”, it talks about how much the environments gets affected by all the chemicals that are produced by the army weapons. It confirms the argument of how much toxic chemicals have been spread from coast to coast. There have been studies done on how much these toxic chemicals from the army not only affect the environment, but also humans as a whole. To this point there’s not much being done about it, specially because we have one of the best armed forces which means, they need better weapons, which can lead to more toxic chemicals.

The specific agent that I learned about and would like to discuss is the nerve agent Sarin. Sarin is a liquid that can be easily converted to a gas, as well as no color or odor, which makes it difficult to detect (Presse, 2015). Victims of a Sarin gas attack most often die from asphyxiation and those who do not die often have permanent nerve damage. Very small amounts of Sarin and be fatal with death occurring in as little time as one minute. Used as a chemical weapon the agent would typically be deployed encased in an artillery shell or dropped in a bomb. When inhaled the agent interferes with the neurotransmitters in the body and typically causes the victim to lose the ability to control their muscles, including those, which control the lungs (Preese, 2015).

Medical effects of soman are typical of nerve agents, and likewise varies depending on the extent of exposure. Specifically, GD is more volatile than VX, but less volatile than sarin (CDC 2013). While the severity and timeliness of symptoms depend on the exposure, the symptoms include: change in blood pressure, blurred vision, chest tightness, drowsiness and confusion, cough, diarrhea, excessive drool and sweating, eye pain, headache, accelerated breathing patterns, nasal and optical discharge, and weakness (amongst others) (CDC 2013). Exposure requires immediate medical treatment. Lower to mild levels of exposure are generally treatable, whereas severe exposure levels are likely to induce death. Exposure can be the result of inhalation, cutaneous contact, and ingestion.

The Vietnam War is the most controversial war in United States history. From the Bay of Tonkin, to the draft, Vietnam often debated in the United States. One of the instances that made Vietnam so controversial was the use of Agent Orange in South Vietnam. Agent Orange is the name of a pesticide composed of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). Agent Orange also contained a chemical compound called dioxin, which has been found to be very toxic to humans. It was sprayed over Vietnam during Operation Ranch Hand, as a part of the United States Military’s herbicidal warfare from 1961-1971. It was dispersed over the Vietnamese jungle via airplanes, tanks, and ground troops. Agent Orange wreaked havoc on the Vietnamese ecosystems, people, and on United States service men. The use of this chemical was damaging to both American and Vietnamese people and greatly damaged the Vietnamese jungle. Agent Orange and the chemical’s effects continues to be studied, through military and environmental history and the use of oral accounts and written accounts.

The Vietnam War also knows as the second Indochina war began November 1, 1955 and officially ended in April 1975, although many today still are affected by the repercussion of war. During the Vietnam War, Americans were told that spraying millions of acres of dense jungle with Agent Orange would deprive the Viet Cong of cover and save GI’s lives. But in the decade since the herbicides use in Vietnam, the United States has been blamed for creating a human catastrophe among the Vietnamese population and US military veterans. My focus in this paper will be to explore why the effects of a human induced disaster are far worse then the effects of a natural disaster, even though natural disasters often appear more severe and are usually recognized more.

Agent Orange was a powerful herbicide used by the U.S. military forces during the Vietnam War to eliminate forest cover and crops. Up to four million people were exposed and now about one million people suffer from serious health issues. Even their children who were not exposed can suffer from spina bifida and birth defects, while up to four generation can have health problems. People who have been exposed to Agent Orange can suffer from certain cancers like soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), Hodgkin disease, and even chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Agent Orange began as a weed killer but later turned into the world’s deadliest chemical that proved to be the most coldblooded decision the American government has made as they approved the use and spraying of Agent Orange in Vietnam. The victims of this mass chemical warfare had come face to face with reality: according to one Vietnamese citizen “Vietnam is now a country at peace […] but the victims of Agent Orange will never live in peace” (qtd. in Tuyet and Johansson). With Agent Orange being one of the deadliest toxins used in the Vietnam war, its effects continued as years passed against Vietnamese soldiers, American soldiers, and their children. Extensive studies have now persuasively linked America’s vast use of Agent Orange to a witches’ brew of crippling and fatal ailments, including disabling skin diseases, horrendous birth defects, an increased risk for Graves’ disease, and the deadliest form of prostate cancer.