Environmental presentation for college class about historical effects of Agent Orange use during Vietnam War

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