Agent Orange

Jessica Lan-Anh, 7/24/24

The year is 1962 in a local village in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. A young girl is roaming her village with her mother, going about daily activities. In the distance, she can hear a distant rumbling in the sky, the sound of engines slowly approaching. She looks up to the clouds and sees U.S. military aircraft. They fly by the nearby forests, the lush green landscape with sprawling trees, and drop a fine mist that dissipates into nothing, a blanket of invisible air that, if she had not witnessed herself, she might have never noticed. Little did she know that this fleeting moment would cause a long list of health problems for her and her future generations. 

The written scenario above is imagined, but this story is one familiar to many Vietnamese folks with a family living in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. From 1962 to 1971, the U.S. military launched Operation Ranch Hand, a herbicidal warfare program that sprayed up to 45 million liters, or 12.1 million U.S. gallons, of "Agent Orange," a de-foliage containing a herbicidal mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T across 24% of Southern Vietnamese terrain. Up to twelve Southern Vietnamese provinces across three significant clusters- Da Nang, Phu Cat, and Bien Hoa- and some areas of Laos and Cambodia were exposed to these chemicals (approximately 5 million acres of land total, the size of Massachusetts). The plan was to use the de-foliage to kill off the trees and plants that made up the dense forests of Vietnam, which were being used by the enemy militia for cover and as a food source.

At the time, no significant studies indicated long-term effects of exposure to the chemical agents. What they did not know, though, was that in the manufacturing process of Agent Orange, 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-para-dioxin, more commonly known as dioxin or TCDD, was being formed as a byproduct. The chemical, now well-understood as an endocrine-disrupting chemical, a human carcinogen, and a developmental, reproductive toxicant, had a half of 11-20 years in the human body and up to 100 years in soil and sediment. The water-insoluble properties of the toxin allowed it to easily leach into the Vietnamese land and the bodies of nearby civilians and U.S. personnel. Once it was discovered in the early 1970s by the National Institute of Health and other health institutions that mice exposed to the TCDD-contaminated chemicals developed malformations and experienced stillbirth, all traces of Agent Orange were slowly banned by the United States and disposed of, but it was too late. The exposures would have tragic, long-term consequences. 

It is estimated that up to three million Vietnamese civilians and up to 26,000 villages were exposed to Agent Orange. Of these civilians, more than 150,000 of them were children of parents who had direct exposure to dioxin. These children suffered from a plethora of severe congenital disabilities ranging from oral clefts, fused limbs, heart defects, hypospadias, skin diseases, cancers, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and congenital malformations. Perhaps one of the most notoriously associated congenital disabilities of Agent Orange is spina bifida. Spina bifida is associated with paternal exposure to dioxin and is a congenital disability that affects the developing spinal cord of fetuses during pregnancy. The neural tubes of the developing fetus are not adequately developed, leading to varying severities of spina bifida. This congenital disability can lead to various side effects like nerve damage, paralysis, mental disabilities, and permanent disfigurement. Even with procedures meant to remove protrusions associated with this defect, all the side effects can not be reversed and must be dealt with for life.

Currently, more than 1 million people in Vietnam are suffering from disabling health problems related to indirect, intergenerational dioxin exposure. Even for those not directly exposed to dioxin during the war, hot spots and lands that had high levels of Agent Orange exposure are considered toxically contaminated and unusable for agriculture. Efforts from international organizations are ongoing to clean up these contaminated areas and reduce the potential of the chemicals spreading into nearby agriculture and populations, but the damage still lasts. The U.S. government has recognized the impact of Agent Orange on veterans and their families, providing disability benefits for those affected. Initiatives have been discussed to provide overseas aid to Vietnam. Within the country itself, various community centers have been opened to help care for the children and families that were exposed to Agent Orange. 

Despite these efforts, the legacy of Agent Orange serves as a stark reminder of the unintended and devastating consequences of war, affecting the lives of millions of innocent civilians long after the conflict has ended.

References

Aspen Institute. (n.d.-a). Maps of Heavily Sprayed Areas and Dioxin Hot Spots. Retrieved July 21, 2024

Aspen Institute. (n.d.-b). What is Agent Orange? Retrieved July 22, 2024

Britannica. (2024, June 24). Agent Orange | Definition, Effects, & Victims.

Chou, C. (2017, March 9). Agent Orange as a Cause of Spina Bifida.

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides. (1994). The U.S. Military and the Herbicide Program in Vietnam. National Academies Press (US).

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to & Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides. (1994). History of the Controversy Over the Use of Herbicides. National Academies Press (US).

Link, C., Email, S. via, X, S. on, Facebook, S. on, & Whatsapp, S. on. (2015, May 23). Vietnam’s horrific legacy: The children of Agent Orange.

Phan Xuân Dững. (2023, September 13). Agent Orange Victims in Vietnam: TheirNumbers, Experiences, Needs, and Sources of Support.

Sen, A. K. (2022, January 27). Addressing the Harmful Legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Socialist Republic of Vietnam ministry of Defense & Socialist Republic of Vietnam Ministry of Defence. (n.d.). Operation Ranch Hand: The Toxic Legacy of Agent Orange. Retrieved July 22, 2024.

US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration. (n.d.). Agent Orange [General Information]. Retrieved July 22, 2024.