91av

ALMOST 30 years after American planes stopped spraying Agent Orange in
Vietnam, some people in contaminated areas have more than 100 times as much
dioxin in their blood as people in the country’s capital. Measurements by an
American researcher show levels are at their highest since 1973 because the
herbicide is now concentrated in people’s food.

About 70 million litres of Agent Orange were sprayed on Vietnam during the
war. The herbicide stripped trees of foliage, and helped American forces locate
Vietnamese soldiers on the ground. But Agent Orange was contaminated by TCDD, a
particularly potent dioxin. As well as being carcinogenic, dioxins are known to
impair the immune system, cause miscarriages and reduce children’s IQ.

Arnold Schecter of the University of Texas School of Public Health in Dallas
says TCDD that seeped into soil and river beds is becoming concentrated in fish
and water. In some parts of Vietnam, it is accumulating in children born after
the end of the war. “There is no doubt that Agent Orange contamination in
Vietnam is not part of history—it’s happening now,” Schecter told New
Scientist. The number of Vietnamese living in contamination hot spots could
be as high as several million, he says.

During the war, US forces used Bien Hoa in southern Vietnam as an air base
and chemicals dump. When Schecter and his team analysed blood from local people
they found TCDD levels up to 135 times higher than those in samples taken from
people in Hanoi, where Agent Orange was never used. People from families that
ate the most fish had the highest blood TCDD levels, he says.

The health implications are unclear. Vietnamese studies have found increased
rates of cancer and congenital malformations in dioxin hot spots, but
international teams claim these are inconclusive, Schecter says.

A clean-up operation could take ten years, and could risk releasing more
dioxins into the environment. Schecter says that people at risk could be given
uncontaminated food and water.

American veterans of Vietnam receive compensation for health problems related
to Agent Orange. The US government has pledged to contribute to humanitarian
projects in Vietnam. But it will not officially provide aid to clean up Agent
Orange, or to compensate Vietnamese people.

“The US Congress put in its budget just under $1 million for joint US
and Vietnamese research into Agent Orange in Vietnam,” says Schecter. “But this
is being held up by the debate between the two governments on linking
humanitarian assistance to Agent Orange public health issues.”

Michael Gochfield of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
says that people in hot spots such as Bien Hoa probably have a higher exposure
to these chemicals than anyone else in the world. “We are wrong to ignore the
plight of the Vietnamese, on whom massive amounts of chemicals were bestowed.”