Agent Orange | Definition, Effects, & Victims (2024)

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What is Agent Orange?

Agent Orange is a mixture of herbicides used during the Vietnam War by the U.S. military to defoliate forests and clear other vegetation. This herbicide mix was deployed in urban, agricultural, and forested areas in Vietnam to expose the enemy and destroy crops. Agent Orange was used along with several other herbicides, code-named Agents White, Purple, Blue, Pink, and Green.

Why is Agent Orange dangerous?

Agent Orange is dangerous because it contains 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, otherwise known as TCDD. TCDD is a byproduct of herbicide production and is toxic even in small amounts. Moreover, TCDD in natural environments can last for many years.

What are symptoms of being exposed to Agent Orange?

People who come into contact with Agent Orange, depending on the length, intensity, and timing of their exposure, may suffer from skin diseases or congenital deformations. Because of its high dioxin content, Agent Orange is a carcinogen, meaning that it can cause cancer in those who are exposed. Additionally, exposure to Agent Orange may have long-lasting impacts on pregnancy, including miscarriages and abnormal fetal development. Exposure to Agent Orange has also been linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hormone disruption, and dysfunction in the muscular and immune systems.

How has Agent Orange affected Vietnamese people?

Vietnam reports that some 400,000 people have suffered death or permanent injury from exposure to Agent Orange. Furthermore, it is estimated that 2,000,000 people have suffered from illnesses caused by exposure and that half a million babies were born with birth defects due to the effects of Agent Orange. It is believed that Agent Orange is still affecting the health of Vietnamese people. While U.S. veterans have been compensated for their exposure to the herbicide mix since they filed a lawsuit in 1979, Vietnamese people’s efforts to secure similar compensation in a 2004 lawsuit was rejected by a U.S. court. Monsanto, once a major manufacturer of Agent Orange, denies that the herbicide mix has long-lasting health impacts.

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. The defoliant, sprayed from low-flying aircraft, consisted of approximately equal amounts of the unpurified butyl esters of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). Agent Orange also contained small, variable proportions of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin—commonly called “dioxin”—which is a by-product of the manufacture of 2,4,5-T and is toxic even in minute quantities. About 50 million litres (13 million gallons) of Agent Orange—containing about 170 kg (375 pounds) of dioxin—were dropped on Vietnam. Agent Orange was one of several herbicides used in Vietnam, the others including Agents White, Purple, Blue, Pink, and Green. The names derived from colour-coded bands painted around storage drums holding the herbicides.

Among the Vietnamese, exposure to Agent Orange is considered to be the cause of an abnormally high incidence of miscarriages, skin diseases, cancers, birth defects, and congenital malformations (often extreme and grotesque) dating from the 1970s.

Britannica QuizPop Quiz: 19 Things to Know About the Vietnam War

Many U.S., Australian, and New Zealand servicemen who suffered long exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam later developed a number of cancers and other health disorders. Despite the difficulty of establishing conclusive proof that their claims were valid, in 1979 U.S. veterans brought a class-action lawsuit against seven herbicide makers that produced Agent Orange for the U.S. military. The suit was settled out of court in 1984 with the establishment of a $180 million fund to compensate some 250,000 claimants and their families. Separately, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded compensation to about 1,800 veterans.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.

Agent Orange | Definition, Effects, & Victims (2024)

What is Agent Orange?

Why is Agent Orange dangerous?

What are symptoms of being exposed to Agent Orange?

How has Agent Orange affected Vietnamese people?

References