Agent Orange was a toxic chemical used by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, intended for defoliation and urbanization efforts, resulting in the destruction of millions of acres of land and severe ecological damage. The herbicide contains dioxin, linked to numerous health issues in exposed populations, including Vietnamese civilians and American veterans, with over 3 million Vietnamese affected and 150,000 children born with birth defects. Legal actions against the producers and various support efforts have followed, but restoration of the affected environment may take over a century.

1. By: Emerson Saum, Jake Buckey,
Megan Reilly-Cruz, and Aleethea Tyler

2.  Agent Orange was a chemical used by
American Troops, during the Vietnam war.
 It was named after the orange stripe painted on
its’ 55-gallon barrel.
 Used to Defoliate the Jungle and Forest that the
Southern Vietnam troops used for cover.
 Also used to induce forced urbanization draft.
 U.S. planes sprayed some 11-12 million gallons
of it between 1961-1971.

3.  Agent Orange was the most effective chemical
spray the U.S. Government had ever used.
 Contained Dioxin which even in small doses is
very toxic.
 5 million acres of forest destroyed.
 500,000 acres of crop land destroyed.
 Before After
Devastating!!!

4.  Arthur Galston created the herbicide in 1943,
trying to help soy beans grow quicker.
 Noticed that it was extremely effective at
defoliation.
 Galston was very concerned about the potential
health effects on humans.
 Was also concerned about ecological damage, it
endangered many shellfish and migratory fish.
 Galston opposed the use of it in war.
 Asserted that Agent Orange harm could continue
for an untold amount of time.

5.  Used primarily in Operation Ranch Hand
 U.S. troops were told that the spray was used
to kill crops that guerrillas were eating when in
reality it was the peasants who ate the vast
majority of the food.
 Chemicals in the spray frequently ended up in
water and crop supplies.
 The U.S. Air force flew nearly 20,000 missions.
 10% of total land area sprayed at least once.
 20% of forest cover sprayed at least once.

7.  “Trees are our enemy.”
 Hundreds of tree species were effected.
 Minimum of 20 million cubic meters destroyed
estimates of up to 90 million persist.
 Of the upland forests sprayed, the hardest hit
were the dense forests of Ma Da, Phu Binh, Sa
Thay, A Luoi and along Route 19.
 259,000 acres of mangroves.
 Afterward many invasive species of grass arrived.
 Many species habitat were greatly destroyed.
 Rats and Mice thrived because of the damage.

8.  After 2 or 3 weeks of being sprayed the leaves
would begin to fall off.
 The leaves would remain bare until the next
rainy season.
 The denser the forest the more sprays that were
required.
 10% of trees died from a single spraying.
 Sometimes the herbicide missions were paired
with napalm and bombing strikes.

10.  Began with Mangrove trees more than 190,000
have been replanted.
 Upland forest restoration is much more
difficult.
 Recent developments have intensified and
many of the species are returning.
 Restoration is hindered by economic incentives
post-war.
 It would take 100 plus years to bring Vietnam
back to prewar standards.

11.  a) Soft Tissue Sarcoma
 b) Lymphoma Non-Hodgkin
 c) Hodgkin’s Disease
 d) Chloracne
 e) Respiratory Cancer
 f) Prostate Cancer
 g) Multiple Myeloma
 h) Spina bifida
 i) Porphiria Cutanea Tarda
 j) Peripheral Neuropathy
 k) Type 2 Diabetes
 l) Reproductive Abnormalities (in people who contact with toxic chemical/dioxin or
 the wife, daughter, daughter-in-law or granddaughter, granddaughter-in-law of
 people who contact with toxic chemical/dioxin).
 m) Liver Cancer
 n) Neurological Defects
 o) Birth Defects (Children)

12.  4.5 million of 18 million people who live in
Vietnam were exposed to the sprayings
 Estimates that 3 million Vietnamese were
effected
 150,000 children were born with birth defects in
Vietnam
 The toxin was in the soil and common sense
can describe
 Many American Troops and their offspring
suffered from it

13.  Since 1978 several law suits have been filed
against Dow Chemical, Monsanto, and
Diamond Shamrock the companies producing
Agent Orange.
 On May 4, 1984 seven chemical companies
agreed to pay 180 million to victims if no other
lawsuits were brought forth.
 The courts continue to fight over rights for the
veterans.
 H.R. 543: Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans
Act of 2013.

14.  Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent
Orange is Vietnamese rights group who filed a
lawsuit citing international law in 2004.
 Agent Orange Act signed into Law in 1991 by
Pres. George. W. Bush.
 U. S.- Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent
Orange/Dioxin supports $300 million plan of
action in 2007.
 Vietnam Red Cross has raised $22 million for
those who are sick or disabled.

15.  Shayla Harris, Amatatham, P. “Cleaning Agent Orange,” The
New York Times, 9 Aug. 2012. 4 Dec.
2013.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23
/us/23galston.html?_r=0
 Fred A. Wilcox, Waiting for an Army to Die: The Tragedy of
Agent Orange, AOR Agent Orange Record”
http://www.agentorangerecord.com/information/the_quest_for
_additional_relief/P1/, 2012. 6 Dec 2013.
 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/10/age
ntofsuffering
 Institute of Medicine, “Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and
Agent Orange Exposure,”
http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Blue-Water-Navy-Vietnam-
Veterans-and-Agent-Orange-Exposure.aspx
National Academy of Sciences. 4 Sept. 2013. 5 Dec. 2013