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Agent Orange Victim
Major Tự Đức Phang was exposed to dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange.
Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was notably used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. The U.S. was strongly influenced by the British who used Agent Orange during the Malayan Emergency. Primarily a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, it contained trace amounts of 2,3,7,8-TCDD, a dioxin compound established as a carcinogen and persistent organic pollutant.
Agent Orange was produced in the United States beginning in the late 1940s and was used in industrial agriculture, and was also sprayed along railroads and power lines to control undergrowth in forests. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military procured over 20,000,000 U.S. gal (76,000,000 L; 17,000,000 imp gal). Nine chemical companies produced it, including Dow Chemical Company and Monsanto Company.
Agent Orange exposure is linked to increased rates of birth defects, malignancies, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The science on the causality between exposure and health problems remains incomplete. The U.S government has documented cases of leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and various kinds of cancer in exposed U.S. veterans, but not concluded a causal relationship or a plausible biological carcinogenic mechanism. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified an increase in the rate of birth defects of the children of exposed U.S. veterans.
