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Vietnamese still suffer from legacy of Agent Orange

Decades after the wartime defoliant Agent Orange was sprayed over the country, dioxin continues to contaminate people through the food chain in present-day Vietnam, according to a study released yesterday.

The finding, published in the August issue of the Journal of Occupation and Environmental Medicine, found that six out of 16 food samples taken last year from around the southern city of Bien Hoa, a former US airbase, had very high dioxin levels, approaching those found during the Vietnam War.

The dioxin was found in free-range ducks, free-range chickens, a bottom-dwelling fish and a toad. Pork and beef samples tested showed negligible levels.

"This study is one of many that shows Agent Orange is not history. Dioxin contamination is still found in high levels in some Vietnamese, as high as when spraying was going on," said lead researcher Dr. Arnold Schecter, of the University of Texas School of Public Health in Dallas.

During the Vietnam War, the US military sprayed an estimated 80 million liters of herbicides over central and southern Vietnam to destroy jungle cover for Communist forces. About 55 percent of that was Agent Orange, which contains the highly toxic dioxin.

Though there has never been a direct scientific link established between the herbicide and birth defects, exposure to Agent Orange has been linked with a variety of illnesses, including some cancers, diabetes, spina bifida in children, and other conditions.

Although Vietnam has never directly demanded compensation from the US, it has said Washington has a moral responsibility to help heal the consequences of the war. Last year, the two countries held their first joint scientific conference on Agent Orange and its effects.

About 10,000 Vietnam War veterans in the US receive disability benefits related to Agent Oange exposure.

In Vietnam, the government says there are more than 620,000 victims affected by Agent Orange, including veterans and their children.
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