Agent Orange

Agent Orange was an herbicide mixture deployed during the Vietnam War to defoliate the thick jungle canopy that served as camouflage for North Vietnamese troop movements against South Vietnam and its allies. Its use has been banned by the U.S. Department of Defense since 1970. From a tactical military sense, the use of Agent Orange was very effective in eliminating the concealing vegetation and thereby exposing enemy movement and concentration of force. From a humanitarian sense, the use of Agent Orange led to increased illness and death due to the toxic effects of a contaminant—2,3,7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD), one of the dioxins. Due to the long half-life of dioxin, toxic levels have persisted in the environment, and the full extent of contamination is only now being ...