Chemical Herbicides In Vietnam War Essay

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

Also depicted in this paper is the type of cancers caused by each chemical and other related health problems associated with each chemical. Finally, the role of government agencies such as FDA, EPA and OSHA in preventing excessive amount or zero amounts of toxic chemicals from entering the environment will be discussed. The last paragraphs will enumerate the inferred conclusion from my research on Agent Orange, DDT and Benzene.

Napalm is a highly flammable sticky jelly used in incendiary bombs and flamethrowers, consisting of gasoline thickened with special soaps, they were very deadly weapons used during the war. Operation Agent Orange is a herbicide and defoliant chemical, one of the tactical use Rainbow Herbicides. This devastating chemical sprayed more than 20 million gallons all over vietnam, Cambodia and laos from 1961 to 1971. The chemical contained these diseases Al Amyloidosis, Chronic B-cell Leukemias, Diabetes Mellitus type 2 and many more diseases but whoever survived this I feel sorry for.

Agent Orange was a powerful herbicide used in the Vietnam war. It was used to kill off the jungle and crops. The jungle allowed the Vietcong to hide and the crops feed the enemy. Agent Orange got its name from the Orange label on the drums of herbicide.   Agent Orange was two herbicides combined 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. It was mixed at 50 times the concentration that would have been by used US farmers. The herbicide 2,4,5-T contained dioxin.

During the Vietnam War the United States Military issued the use of one out of the 15 other herbicides, this herbicide was called "Agent Orange" mainly because it had an Orange band around the storage barrels. The herbicide was made by two American companies: Monsanto and The Dow Chemical. Agent Orange was made out of two herbicides: 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. In addition to the two chemicals in Agent Orange it contained another chemical: (TCDD) TetraCholroDidenzo-P-Dioxin. Dixon’s are extremely dangerous in small quantities. The herbicide was solely used by the United States Military in the Vietnam War because of its natural compound to Defoliate the trees, shrubs, and the Vietnamese food crops leaves, making it nearly impossible for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong to stay hidden in the Vietnamese jungle. The United States Military sought to this advantage because it came out to play into Americas hand, by the destruction of up to 2.6 million acres in Vietnam and their Neighboring Countries Laos and Cambodia. The Coverage of Agent Orange in the American News was both Positive and Negative. Multiple news Agencies have worshipped The United States Military stance on using the herbicide Agent Orange because of well it played into our favor, But there were many negative aspects about using Agent Orange that the News covered.

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

There have been many wars throughout American history and millions of lives have been lost fighting for the land of the free. On November 1st, 1955, one of the most controversial wars in American history began; the Vietnam War. The politics behind the Vietnam War are very in-depth and important, but the issues being addressed now are based on the weapons used during the war and how they affected veterans; more specifically, the weapon is one that had more long-term effects and did not kill the enemy at the point-blank exposure. The U.S. created a newer chemical weapon known as Agent Orange. Agent Orange is a very lethal and harmful chemical that the U.S. used on the Viet Cong to try to weaken them by depriving their food source and cover. Now, over five decades after the war, veterans from both sides are still being greatly affected by this war tactic and the goal is to understand more about the human effects during and after the war.

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 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)

Today, the Agent Orange case is a serious threat to public health as veterans and generations affected up onto today are still suffering. A large amount "Herbicide Orange" was used in Vietnam has been of major belief to many that contributed to the most tragic environmental and public health problems. Scenarios such as a U.S. troop who was just an electrician said he saw "no action" in the war, decades later this veteran developed Type 2 diabetes. A lot of others experience their scars from this exposure right away, especially the troops who were in the first line of exposure. The newly releases troops complained about skin rashes such as chloracne, cancer of all sorts, other health issues, but one devastating of them all, birth defects in their children. They all believed the spraying of AO have contributed to the root of the issues. Although, the spray was normally diluted with oil and waterways, it is also believed to have long-term effects on rivers and lakes. Also causing the civilians of the affected areas to be a long lasting effect upon them. Agent Orange herbicide was not just an ordinary herbicide. It was mixed with a unique amount of two different components, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. The U.S. introduced this chemical as a design to destroy plant life in the war in 1961. It was commonly used to destroy or defoliate dense, forest broad leaf plants, trees, shrubs and food crops. Because the North Vietnamese had a war advantage from heavy jungles and camouflage hiding

War causes a myriad of effects in varying degrees of severity on the land and consequently among humankind. In the scenario of Vietnam with Agent Orange, no one anticipated the birth defects, cancer, and brain damage that would affect the lives of our nation’s veterans, the people of Vietnam, and thousands of unborn children for years to follow. Despite the evidence linking the Agent Orange to these injustices, there has been little done to right these wrongs. There should be more policy protecting the environment and its inhabitants, especially when detrimental effects are exacerbated by war. As mentioned previously, most of society may not even be aware of the effects war has on our environment. This piece is aiming to serve as a bridge for the gap between what science knows and what the people know about war’s effect on the land we

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 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

Everyday almost 500 of these chemicals end up in use in the United States, this is a pace that the environment can by no means keep up with let alone adjust to. Carson (1962) describes this in terms of mans war on nature, discussing the nature of these 200 chemicals that have been produced between the mid 1940s and the beginning of the 1960s and being branded as pesticides. Carson insists that these ‘pesticides’ should be renamed as ‘biocides’ as they continue to harm our environment at an unprecedented level (Carson,

One concern about pesticides and herbicide usage is the amount of residues left on the end product of crops sprayed with the chemicals, and their effects on human health. (Williamson, 2007, p. 184). However, these effects are closely tested and levels are strictly regulated to ensure there is no danger from possible pesticide residues. Since 1910, many rules, regulations, and agencies have been formed to monitor the safety of the pesticides and herbicides used in conventional farming. These chemicals must meet specific safety standards in order to be registered for use, and regulations on levels of each product safe for use are also put in place. (Tafel et al.,2007, p.184). All pesticides are rigorously examined to ensure they have no significant effects on human health, or the environment. The residues in the food chain are closely monitored, and regularly tested, to ensure they are below legal limits. In a recent survey of residues