What was Agent Orange Vietnam?

Agent Orange was a tactical herbicide the U.S. military used to clear leaves and vegetation for military operations mainly during the Vietnam War. Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange may have certain related illnesses.
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What does Agent Orange do to the human body?

Short-term exposure to dioxin can cause darkening of the skin, liver problems and a severe acne-like skin disease called chloracne. Additionally, dioxin is linked to type 2 diabetes, immune system dysfunction, nerve disorders, muscular dysfunction, hormone disruption and heart disease.
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Why is he called Agent Orange?

More than 19 million gallons of various “rainbow” herbicide combinations were sprayed, but Agent Orange was the combination the U.S. military used most often. The name “Agent Orange” came from the orange identifying stripe used on the 55-gallon drums in which it was stored.
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What was Agent Orange originally made for?

Agent Orange, mixture of herbicides that U.S. military forces sprayed in Vietnam from 1962 to 1971 during the Vietnam War for the dual purpose of defoliating forest areas that might conceal Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces and destroying crops that might feed the enemy.
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What was Agent Orange and why was it so controversial?

Agent Orange was the most extensively used herbicide in Vietnam; it consisted of a 50:50 mixture by weight of the n-butyl esters of two phenoxy acids: 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T).
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Agent Orange (The Vietnam War)



Is Agent Orange still present in Vietnam?

After its use in the 1960s, Agent Orange was banned by the U.S. in 1971 and remaining stocks were taken from Vietnam and the U.S. to Johnston Atoll, a U.S. controlled island about 700 miles SE of Hawaii, where it was destroyed in 1978. There is no 'Agent Orange' in Vietnam or anywhere else today.
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Is Agent Orange still used today?

But the deadly, mutagenic poison “dioxin,” central to Agent Orange's gruesome effectiveness, is still in wide use today, most indiscriminately by logging concerns as part of weed-killing herbicides sprayed over forests in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
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What are the 14 diseases associated with Agent Orange?

Here are the 14 health conditions associated with Agent Orange exposure as of 2020:
  • Chronic B-Cell Leukemia.
  • Hodgkin's disease.
  • Multiple Myeloma.
  • Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
  • Prostate cancer.
  • Respiratory Cancers.
  • Soft tissue sarcomas.
  • Ischemic heart disease.
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What did Agent Orange smell like?

“Going into Agent Orange was like it had a musty smell to it. It was a reddish-brown-colored fog that would be in the air,” said Dudich, who served much of his first tour with troops of the Republic of Vietnam.
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Is Agent Orange and Roundup the same thing?

Answer and Explanation:

Roundup, a popular herbicide created by Monsanto, is similar to Agent Orange in that both chemicals overstimulate the growth of plants, causing...
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How many Vietnam vets have died from Agent Orange?

The number of Vietnam veterans affected by the chemical Agent Orange is astonishing. Roughly 300-thousand veterans have died from Agent Orange exposure -- that's almost five times as many as the 58-thousand who died in combat.
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How do you know if you were exposed to Agent Orange?

Unfortunately, there's no medical test or biological feature that can show that someone was exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides, so the health exam cannot confirm that you were (or were not) exposed.
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Can Agent Orange be passed to offspring?

There is currently no definitive evidence that a father's exposure to Agent Orange causes birth defects. However, an analysis of Agent Orange registry data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) suggests a link between males' exposure to Agent Orange and having children with certain birth defects.
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What are the long term effects of Agent Orange?

Unfortunately, Agent Orange exposure has led to long-term health effects in many Vietnam era veterans, including multiple myeloma, Parkinson's Disease, and various types of cancer.
...
Veterans and survivors with these presumptive conditions are now also eligible for benefits:
  • Parkinsonism.
  • Hypothyroidism.
  • Bladder cancer.
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Where was the most Agent Orange sprayed in Vietnam?

Phu Cat Airbase

Over 3.5 million liters of Agent Orange were located on the Phu Cat base during the American war in Vietnam. Several areas of the Phu Cat base were found to have elevated levels of dioxin requiring remediation (above 1000 ppt in soil or 150 ppt in sediment).
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Is napalm same as Agent Orange?

Agent Orange, which was used during the Vietnam War to clear dense vegetation, is a deadly herbicide with long-lasting effects. Napalm, a gel-like fuel mixture that burns slowly and more accurately than gasoline, was used in bombs.
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Did the U.S. compensate Vietnam for Agent Orange?

During its operation, the Settlement Fund distributed a total of $197 million in cash payments to members of the class in the United States. Of the 105,000 claims received by the Payment Program, approximately 52,000 Vietnam Veterans or their survivors received cash payments which averaged about $3,800 each.
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What was a dust eater in the Vietnam War?

Agent Orange is a herbicide and defoliant chemical, one of the "tactical use" Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971.
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What birth defects did Agent Orange cause?

By 2017, spina bifida and related neural tube defects were the only birth defects associated with Agent Orange. Plant physiologists first developed herbicides as tools of chemical warfare toward the end of World War II.
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How much does the VA pay for Agent Orange exposure?

A single veteran can receive up to $39,984 (2022) per year in tax-free benefits from the VA due to their exposure to Agent Orange and resulting medical condition. A married veteran, or veteran with dependents such as a child or dependent parent can receive $42,214 (2022) or more.
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Was Agent Orange a war crime?

Despite this, from 1961 to 1973, the U.S. military dropped an estimated 81,000,000 liters of various chemicals on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Over 60% of this was Agent Orange. The U.S. military's actions in poisoning these countries and their people still stand as one of the greatest war crimes since World War II.
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What cancers are caused by Agent Orange?

Does Agent Orange cause cancer?
  • Soft tissue sarcoma.
  • Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)
  • Hodgkin lymphoma.
  • Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), including hairy cell leukemia and other chronic B-cell leukemias.
  • Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a precursor of multiple myeloma.
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Where was Agent Orange used the most?

3The U.S. Military and the Herbicide Program in Vietnam. From 1962 to 1971, the U.S. Air Force sprayed nearly 19 million gallons of herbicides in Vietnam, of which at least 11 million gallons was Agent Orange, in a military project called Operation Ranch Hand.
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Was Agent Orange successful?

U.S. propaganda about Agent Orange was so effective, it fooled American troops into thinking it was safe, too. It launched a public relations campaign included educational programs showing civilians happily applying herbicides to their skin and passing through defoliated areas without concern.
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