Agent Orange

Agent Orange is a chemical <a href="/facts/Herbicide/FN93bvrk">herbicide</a> and <a href="/facts/Defoliant/KF9hsbEU">defoliant</a>, one of the tactical uses of <a href="/facts/Rainbow_Herbicides/vqBPVpDl">Rainbow Herbicides</a>. It was used by the <a href="/facts/U.S._military/NHVsU9Id">U.S. military</a> as part of its <a href="/facts/Herbicidal_warfare/qCr24cov">herbicidal warfare</a> program, <a href="/facts/Operation_Ranch_Hand/Ta8hUm7V">Operation Ranch Hand</a>, during the <a href="/facts/Vietnam_War/W0gfbGTE">Vietnam War</a> from 1961 to 1971. The U.S. was strongly influenced by the British who used Agent Orange during the <a href="/facts/Malayan_Emergency/zRPXV1E6">Malayan Emergency</a>. It is a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides, <a href="/facts/2%2c4%2c5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic_acid/fpUfDhhq">2,4,5-T</a> and <a href="/facts/2%2c4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic_acid/8nQt0CjC">2,4-D</a>.
Agent Orange was produced in the United States beginning in the late 1940s and was used in industrial agriculture, and was also sprayed along railroads and power lines to control undergrowth in forests. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military procured over 20,000,000 U.S. gal (76,000,000 L; 17,000,000 imp gal), consisting of a fifty-fifty mixture of 2,4-D and dioxin-contaminated 2,4,5-T. Nine chemical companies produced it: <a href="/facts/Dow_Chemical_Company/tuTEe6tQ">Dow Chemical Company</a>, <a href="/facts/Monsanto_Company/6rVAaIXB">Monsanto Company</a>, <a href="/facts/Diamond_Shamrock/LvtBItMq">Diamond Shamrock Corporation</a>, <a href="/facts/Hercules_Inc./3NhLIN2J">Hercules Inc.</a>, Thompson Hayward Chemical Co., <a href="/facts/United_States_Rubber_Company/fU5S8H28">United States Rubber Company</a> (Uniroyal), Thompson Chemical Co., <a href="/facts/Hoffman-Taff/m1lx4KJ3">Hoffman-Taff</a> Chemicals, Inc., and Agriselect.
The government of Vietnam says that up to four million people in Vietnam were exposed to the defoliant, and as many as three million people have suffered illness because of Agent Orange, while the <a href="/facts/Vietnamese_Red_Cross/0GlG2HAn">Vietnamese Red Cross</a> estimates that up to one million people were disabled or have health problems as a result of exposure to Agent Orange. While the United States government has described these figures as unreliable, it has documented cases of <a href="/facts/Leukemia/WpEfW0Qh">leukemia</a>, <a href="/facts/Hodgkin%2527s_lymphoma/mCeqnGty">Hodgkin's lymphoma</a>, and various kinds of cancer in exposed U.S. military veterans. The U.S. Government has not conclusively found either a causal relationship or a plausible biological carcinogenic mechanism for cancers. An epidemiological study done by the <a href="/facts/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention/NmoJNDV5">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> showed that there was an increase in the rate of <a href="/facts/Birth_defects/ESfzQhTx">birth defects</a> of the children of military personnel who were exposed to Agent Orange. Agent Orange has also caused enormous environmental damage in Vietnam. Over 3,100,000 ha (7,700,000 acres) or 31,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) of forest were defoliated. Defoliants eroded tree cover and seedling forest stock, making <a href="/facts/Reforestation/U4MMM3lq">reforestation</a> difficult in numerous areas. Animal <a href="/facts/Species_diversity/jgUGx4UC">species diversity</a> is sharply reduced in contrast with unsprayed areas. The environmental destruction caused by this defoliation has been described by Swedish Prime Minister <a href="/facts/Olof_Palme/zykYb62U">Olof Palme</a>, lawyers, historians and other academics as an <a href="/facts/Ecocide/BqxtRg16">ecocide</a>.
The use of Agent Orange in Vietnam resulted in numerous legal actions. The <a href="/facts/United_Nations/fgXLnmgT">United Nations</a> ratified <a href="/facts/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_31%2f72/IGEzpMMR">United Nations General Assembly Resolution 31/72</a> and the <a href="/facts/Environmental_Modification_Convention/nbVqMhDM">Environmental Modification Convention</a>. Lawsuits filed on behalf of both U.S. and Vietnamese veterans sought compensation for damages.
Agent Orange was first used by <a href="/facts/British_Commonwealth/TcIRQnNq">British Commonwealth</a> forces in <a href="/facts/British_Malaya/SwMnjlFx">Malaya</a> during the <a href="/facts/Malayan_Emergency/zRPXV1E6">Malayan Emergency</a>. It was also used by the U.S. military in <a href="/facts/Laos/S0afugjX">Laos</a> and <a href="/facts/Cambodia/t1wJd6GU">Cambodia</a> during the Vietnam War because forests near the border with Vietnam were used by the <a href="/facts/Viet_Cong/hkoWcwRy">Viet Cong</a>.

Agent Orange open-in-new

Agent Orange