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The article presents information on the U.S. herbicide program which was implemented during the Vietnam War. It is stated that the program aroused several controversies over the usage of herbicides in military operations. The health hazards caused due to herbicides, specially the effect of Agent Orange on the U.S. veterans of Vietnam was the matter of concern. It is reported that recently the U.S. Air Force declassified few pages of the book "Operation Ranch Hand: The Air Force and Herbicides in Southeast Asia 1961-71," written by Major William A. Buckingham.

The article discusses the bad effects of dioxin in the health of people exposed to it. Dioxin is used in the production of Agent Orange which was used by the U.S. forces in the program of defoliation and crop destruction in areas of major Viet Cong activity, during the war in South Vietnam. Some of the symptoms of dioxin poisoning are hands and feet numbness, depression, irritation, and difficulty in concentrating or remembering things. Dioxin is also believed to cause cancer, and deformities among the children of exposed men.

The article presents a discussion of the impact of war on the environment. Some wars in the past have shown just how damaging modern war is to the environment. The incident covering the use of herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam was the first occurrence that the biosphere had been systematically assailed for military purposes. A proposal prohibiting the military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques has been submitted by the United States and the Soviet Union to the Committee on Disarmament (CCD) in year 1975.

In the early years of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the Departments of State and Defense battled over the decision to use chemical herbicides to defoliate the landscape and destroy enemy access crops. While the Pentagon won the initial battle, allowing herbicidal warfare to proceed, State’s concerns about program ultimately proved prophetic as the chemical war waged by the United States in Southeast Asia further alienated the Vietnamese villagers the program was ostensibly designed to protect. This essay moves beyond previous studies of Operation Ranch Hand by exploring the politics of the herbicidal warfare, and crop destruction in particular, from Washington D.C. to MACV to Vietnamese villages. Drawing on previously unexplored archival sources, this essay explores contemporary reactions to the herbicide program and shows how the chemical war embodied the larger contradictions of the American war in Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Exposure Opportunity Index (EOI) is a proximity-based model developed to estimate relative exposure of ground troops in Vietnam to aerially applied herbicides. We conducted a detailed quantitative evaluation of the EOI model by using actual herbicide spray missions isolated in time and space. EOI scores were calculated for each of 36 hypothetical receptor location points associated with each spray mission for 30 herbicide missions for two time periods – day of herbicide application and day 2–3 post-application. Our analysis found an enormous range of EOI predictions with 500–1000-fold differences across missions directly under the flight path. This quantitative examination of the EOI suggests that extensive testing of the model’s code is warranted. Researchers undertaking development of a proximity-based exposure model for epidemiologic studies of either Vietnam veterans or the Vietnamese population should conduct a thorough and realistic analysis of how precise and accurate the model results are likely to be and then assess whether the model results provide a useful basis for their planned epidemiologic studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The modem science created enormously powerful and destructive military technologies and weapons that had resulted in massive death and devastation especially from twentieth century. The weapons of mass destruction had already inflicted and threaten to inflict more damage to human rights in all countries and the marginalized communities are intimidated more by these military technologies. Both peace time and war time military activities are dysfunctional to the environment. Weapon technologies, weapons, military personal and machinery movement, extensive use of animals for practice purposes as targets, poisoning of enemy water and other natural resources etc are rampant all over the world gravely endangering the environment and people's rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors studied immune response and exposure to 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (dioxin) among veterans of Operation Ranch Hand, the US Air Force unit responsible for the aerial spraying of herbicides in Vietnam from 1962 to 1971. A comparison group of Air Force veterans who served in Southeast Asia but were not involved in spraying herbicides was included. The authors studied delayed-type hypersensitivity skin test responses to Candida albicans, mumps, Trichophyton, and a bacterial antigen made from lysed Staphylococcus aureus. Lymphocyte measurements included total lymphocyte counts; T-cell (CD3, CD4, CD5, and CD8), B-cell (CD20), and NK-cell (CD16 and CD56) subsets; and expression of the activation antigen CD25 on CD3 T cells. The authors quantitated the serum concentrations of immunoglobulin (lg)A, IgG, and IgM; examined sera for the presence of monoclonal immunoglobulins (M proteins); and looked for a broad range of autoantibodies (rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody, smooth muscle autoantibody, mitochondrial autoantibody, parietal cell autoantibody, and thyroid microsomal autoantibodies). They measured the level of dioxin in 1987 or 1992, extrapolated the result to the time of service in Vietnam, and assigned each veteran to one of four exposure categories: Comparison and three Ranch Hand groups (Background, Low, or High). Overall, the authors found no evidence of a consistent relation between dioxin exposure category and immune system alteration. Am J Epidemiol 1999; 149:1038–46. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Just as America and its allies have become embroiled in what some have called another Vietnam, questions to do with the injustice of that earlier conflict have begun to resurface in international forums. In January of 2004, some 29 years since the official end of the Vietnam War the first action on behalf of Vietnamese victims of the principal US military herbicide, Agent Orange, was filed in a New York district court. In March the following year all claims were dismissed. This article seeks to present a commentary of this extraordinary case in view of history and the broader themes of politics, international law, and its institutions as a handicap to accommodating individual victims of war. While identifying with this wider plight of victims the article serves as an update on developments in scientific research, bringing home the very serious threat of further contamination to the present day population in Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the link between birth defects in Vietnamese children and the herbicide Agent Orange, which was sprayed by the U.S. military on crops in Vietnam during the Vietnam War in the 1960s-1970s. Vietnam claims that parental exposure at the time of spraying of the herbicide is resulting in children being born with defects. Meanwhile, scientists are planning to revive the health study of the U.S. veterans involved in Operation Ranch Hand, in which 95% of the herbicide was sprayed on Vietnam. The Vietnamese are claiming compensation for the injuries caused due to the herbicide, asking the U.S. to sue the companies that supplied the herbicide to the U.S. military. The U.S. on its part has agreed to clear the areas affected by the agent.

US Air Force veterans of Operation Ranch Hand sprayed herbicides contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in Vietnam from 1962 to 1971. Comparisons served in Southeast Asia (SEA) during the same time period but did not spray herbicides. Here we investigate a potential association between exposure to TCDD and prostate cancer. Data were available for 2516 veterans (1019 Ranch Hand and 1497 Comparison) who participated in at least one of six physical examinations starting in 1982 and had a measurement of serum TCDD. We assigned Ranch Hands to two exposure categories: Lower and Higher, based on their median 20-year cumulative TCDD level. In total, 81 Comparison and 59 Ranch Hand prostate cancers were identified between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 2003. We found no overall increase in the risk of prostate cancer in Ranch Hand veterans versus the Comparisons. There was a positive association in Ranch Hand veterans in the Higher TCDD category who served in SEA before 1969 (RR=2.27, 95% CI 1.11–4.66) when more contaminated herbicides were used, but the number of cases was small (n=15). A within-group comparison found that in Comparison veterans, time served in SEA was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer (RR=2.18, 95% CI 1.27–3.76, >789 days versus ≤789 days). No increase in the risk of prostate cancer was observed within the Ranch Hand group in association with TCDD or time served in SEA. These analyses suggest that a longer service in SEA and exposures other than TCDD may have increased the risk of prostate cancer in Comparison veterans.Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (2006) 16, 184–190. doi:10.1038/sj.jea.7500448; published online 27 July 2005 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the threat of biological warfare and efforts to prevent it from happening. Geneva Protocol of 1925; Bacteriological and Toxin Weapon Convention of 1972; Potential weapons and targets; Countries that have agreed not to use such weapons; Unpredictability of pathogens.

The primary reason for concern about the adverse effects of exposure to Agent Orange is attributable to its toxic contaminant, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) or dioxin. We studied adipose tissues from 36 Vietnam veterans, a similar group of 79 non-Vietnam veterans, and 80 civilians; the tissue specimens were selected from the 8,000 archived tissues collected from the non-institutionalized general population by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The geometric mean (+/- standard deviation) dioxin levels in adipose tissue for Vietnam veterans, non-Vietnam veterans, and civilian controls were 11.7 (+/- 1.7), 10.9 (+/- 1.7), and 12.4 (+/- 1.9) parts per trillion on a lipid weight basis, respectively. The mean levels for these groups were not significantly different from each other with or without adjustment for age of individuals, body mass index, and specimen collection year. In addition, none of the surrogate measures of Agent Orange exposure such as military branch, service within specific geographic region, military occupation, and troop location in relation to recorded Agent Orange spray was associated with the dioxin levels in adipose tissue of Vietnam veterans. Our results suggest that heavy exposure to Agent Orange or dioxin for most US troops was unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses link between the exposure to herbicide Agent Orange and the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder of Vietnam veterans. The number of psychiatric casualties in Vietnam on average was 12 per 1,000 troops per year, about the same as for Army personnel stationed in the continental United States during the same time and a figure much lower than for American troops during the Second World War and Korea. However, since 1975 about 700,000 Vietnam veterans have sought counseling or other help from the Veterans Administration for readjustment difficulties. Further, about 250,000 Vietnam veterans have requested physical examinations from the VA to access suspicions that exposure to the herbicide, Agent Orange, caused their health problems.

The article reports that the International Symposium on Herbicides and Defoliants in War was held on January 13-20, 1983 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. More than 160 scientists from 21 countries and delegates from 3 United Nations agencies took part in the symposium. Some 72 papers were presented on ecological and health aspects of the long-term effects of military herbicides used in the Vietnam War from 1961 through 1975 by the United States and the South Vietnamese armed services

The article discusses the use of the herbicide Agent Orange in Vietnam and the controversy raised by its use. The use of the herbicide Agent Orange in Vietnam has sparked controversy and heated debate that exposure to the herbicide has caused high rates of cancer among Vietnam veterans and the birth defects in their children. Nearly 220,000 Vietnam veterans have requested physical examinations from the Veterans' Administration (VA) to confirm suspicions that their health problems are caused by exposure to the herbicide. If all Agent Orange claims were worthy of payment, compensation could reach several billion dollars. Vietnam veterans organizations have accused the VA of negligence in investigating the claims. The controversy over Agent Orange also became a vehicle for organizing and securing other benefits for Vietnam veterans. When the VA reacted slowly and reluctantly, Vietnam veterans were angered by their inability to receive treatment for troubling and serious health problems.

The article offers information on the 30-day delay of the Agent Orange study in the U.S. Despite the government standards at hand, researchers found it difficult to get the study approved thus it is already in its 30-day delay. The research is geared in studying the possible effects of the defoliant Agent Orange and other combat factors on U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War. It is suggested that the present or the incoming administration should heed that advice by the National Academy of Sciences wherein they should go ahead with a much-delayed study of Agent Orange. With the new data and advances in geographical information systems, researchers could plug a significant gap in earlier epidemiological studies.

Reports on the launch of a joint research program on the human and environmental health effects from spraying Agent Orange and other herbicides during the Vietnam War. Assessment of the extent of Agent Orange exposure among the Vietnamese; Identification of highly contaminated areas and monitoring migration of dioxin through the environment.

Comments on the environmental consequences of war. Effect of war on poaching practices; Number of Vietnamese people who suffered health problems related to the use of defoliant Agent Orange; Health effects of the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan.

Examines the flight records of the U.S. military aircraft that sprayed Agent Orange over Vietnam. Relationship between herbicide spraying and the health of Vietnamese population and the U.S. war veterans; Analysis of computerized maps of herbicide spraying in Vietnam.

The article presents a reprint of a letter written by several plant physiologists to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 6, 1966 and the official reply to the letter. The physiologists discuss the alleged use of chemical herbicides by the armed forces of the U.S. in Vietnam. It is stated in the response to the letter that the herbicides are being used to clear the growth of forests and do not cause harm to people or animals.