Can you tell me about agent orange ? caused by the sprays in vietnam jungles?

Question

Can you tell me about agent orange ? caused by the sprays in vietnam jungles?

Answer 1

Agent Orange was the spray used by the Army to kill vegetation in Vietnam.  It caused all sorts of health problems in veterans, such as cancer and sterility.  i have even heard anecdotal evidence that Agent Orange has cause illness or death in the children of veterans affected by Agent Orange.

Answer 2

During my 1995 travel through Vietnam, I saw some denuded areas they claimed was caused by that.  Physical damage to people was not observed or even addressed by them.  The reason it is still being talked about in USA is a left over from the opposition to the war at that time.  The USA government said it had no effect on people. . . . .how many victims have you met who are suffering from after effects?

Answer 3

it is a chemical that affects the nervous system later on in life--can be fatal

Answer 4

I think you can get the idea of what Agent Orange is, especially related to Vietnam and the Vietnam War, from the other answers. I'll give you a more detailed breakdown for my answer.

Agent Orange is one of several herbicides used during the Vietnam War. The reason for using herbicides was to deprive the Viet Cong of their best defense, which was the jungle. It's argued that some of the herbicides, such as Agent Orange, were known to have severe residual human effects before being used on a massive scale in the Vietnam War.

Aside from the negative effects, Agent Orange was and still is an effective herbicide for agricultural use. It is effective in selectively killing broad-leafed plants and leaving other plants unharmed. It was used in corn and wheat fields in the U.S. for years before the Vietnam War. It kills the weeds within the fields, but left the production crops unharmed. Good or bad, Agent Orange is still one of the most used herbicides today.

What makes Agent Orange a man killer is the dioxins that are released from it during use. Vietnam Veterans and others who are affected by Agent Orange are actually affected by dioxin poisoning and not really by Agent Orange itself. There is overwhelming circumstantial evidence that Agent Orange exposure could be related to long-term physical, psychological and genetic defects. However, there is actually very little factual evidence despite decades of research in trying to find proof. This has caused a big problem in getting the U.S. Government and manufacturers of Agent Orange to admit error and take responsibility for the hundreds of thousands who suffer from exposure to Agent Orange.

Dioxin has caused horrific problems with Vietnam Veterans (my Dad suffers from this too), and especially to the Vietnamese living in and around contaminated areas. Many of the Vietnamese were exposed to dioxin poisoning for decades compared to a Vietnam Veteran’s exposure of about a year. There are recent issues of dioxin poisoning jumping generations and affecting the grandchildren of those who were originally exposed. Psychological problems and mental retardation is common. Severe physical disfigurement is also too common.

I had visited the Vietnam Friendship Village outside of Hanoi, where children who were affected by dioxin exposure are put into a program to help them become a productive part of their society. I had seen children born without eyes, ears, fingers and limbs in this program. It was very difficult for me as a grown man to keep from crying when seeing these innocent children being as disfigured as they were. The one thing that kept me from crying was seeing them very happy despite their handicaps.

Agent Orange continues to harm Vietnam in other ways. There are huge areas of Vietnam jungle that still has not grown back after over 30 years since the War ended, and has left such areas looking like moonscapes. There is a huge chemical dump recently found on the Da Nang airfield that was left over from the U.S. use. The contamination contains dioxin levels 300 – 500 times above safe levels. This has affected nearby rivers and fresh water sources for decades, which will likely affect more innocent Vietnamese children until it is cleaned up.

You can find lots of information about Agent Orange in your local library or online. It you really want to see what Agent Orange can do, you should visit one of the friendship villages in Vietnam. I assure you that you will have no doubts about Agent Orange after your first visit.

Answer 5

Agent orange is a chemical that kills plants tree and any vegetable matter. It was used in the vietnam jungle so that that USA army could see the emeny better (to be able to bomb them better).

Contradictory to belief, agent orange does not cause cancers and such like, it is a by product that is formed in the process of making agent orange (some dioxin) that causes the cancers and such like.