Army Chemical Corps Vietnam- Era Veterans Health Study is a study of 4,000 Veterans who served in the US Army Chemical Corps between the years of 1963-1973. This study determines that High Blood Pressure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are related to the exposure of Agent Orange. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention published a study in 1984 for Vietnam War Veterans that exposure to Agent Orange poses a risk of fathering babies with birth defects such as spina bifida, various types of cancers, physical and mental disabilities, and deformed or missing limbs.
After being exposed to Agent Orange, symptoms of effects would not be immediate. Sometimes, it took six months to over a year before one would know he or she had been affected. Among the people affected were US Military members and everyone that came in contact with it through the air or physical contact. Animals and fish living in the area were also affected; the chemical became in contact with them and their food. In some cases, Vietnamese people would mistakenly use the barrels contaminated with remnants of Agent Orange without knowing. This would pose a high risk of serious health problems in the future.
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| Before and after the use of Agent Orange |
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| Agent Orange Barrels |
https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/
http://theconversation.com/agent-orange-exposed-how-u-s-chemical-warfare-in-vietnam-unleashed-a-slow-moving-disaster-84572
It's amazing how powerful that stuff was. In the picture, it even looks like it affected the water as well. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteWould you be affected by Agent Orange if you were just nearby or did you have to make physical contact with the substance to start having side effects?
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting to me because I have heard about agent orange before but I never knew the serious consequences of using it even for the American soldiers who were using it as an attack tactic.
ReplyDeleteThat is so incredibly sad. It destroyed everything. I wonder if Vietnam is still experiencing high effects from this chemical? Can the chemical leak into the ground and effect the crops and food they consume?
ReplyDeleteThat is crazy that you did not know your symptoms years after you had first encountered Agent Orange! It's so scary how powerful and dangerous war tatics can be!
ReplyDeleteYour research relates to mine a lot. I researched napalm, which is similar to agent orange and they were often used together. They both are very dangerous and harmful! I couldn't imagine using napalm or agent orange! That is a great picture of the river before and after it really shows the effects.
ReplyDeleteIt really speaks for the situation that this was so bad, the U.S. and Vietnam governments work together to restore the mangroves. Like, even they knew that this was terrible and they need to work together to reverse the damage.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy to think that we used this type of weapon without even considering the side affects it would have on our own troops. It is a pretty smart tactic to use though. Destroying all the brush for Vietnamese troops to use as well as their crops was a unique. Furthermore, my grandma had mentioned some of her friends coming back from the war with the side effects of Agent Orange and she said it was terrible and that those friends now basically live at the VA for their medical need.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting and kind of sad as to how long this has affected Vietnam and its people. I didnt know that it still had an affect on the local populations of both people and wildlife.
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