Dioxin Viet Nam

In the wake of death, another Vietnam veteran is layed to rest. He proudly served his country in the 1960's-70's. During a time frame when pesticides were spread to clear foliage.

An estimated 20 million gallons were reported dumped. The object was to protect the soldiers from enemies hiding in the thick.

The results are still being felt in numerous ways. Effected were over 3 million men and women. Code name agent orange: a mix of herbicides dispensed by way of air craft, hand spraying, and vehicle was found to be very toxic. Men and women were also effected in the years following their service release. Reports of health problems are still being noted today.
As Vietnam war veterans age, results of agent orange

are ringing true. Numerous medical conditions are ailing them and their children. Psychological problems at the foremost. The effects of agent orange are running through their off springs. Generations to come will be touched by the Vietnam war.

Men and women who served their country: returned home safely. Only to die a slow and painful death. Agent orange remained in their bodies and was passed on to their children. Medical problems in soldiers were reported early on.

The endless list includes cancers, birth defects and handicaps in their children, psychological symptoms, and a rainbow of other diseases. Many of these complications have become fatal. Solid evidence that agent orange causes cancer can't be definite. Their are too many factors to consider. The level of exposure to the chemical mix of herbicides, kerosene, and acid varied among the veterans.

Families who know that agent orange, or any of the 15 types of chemical mixes used during the Vietnam war-were at large and had an effect on their loved one can request a skin test to determine if dioxin's are in their bodies. This test should be had for the children of our soldiers.

This study aimed to ascertain whether or not a small sample of New Zealand Vietnam War veterans have incurred genetic damage as a result of service in Vietnam. The Sister Chromatid Exchange assay (SCE) is a very sensitive and widely applied assay used as a bioindicator of genetic damage induced by an environmental agent or clastogen. In the current study a group of 24 New Zealand Vietnam War veterans and 23 control volunteers were compared using an SCE analysis. All participants were screened to reduce the possible influence of factors that could severely impact on findings and to eliminate any bias in the SCE results.

The results from the SCE study show a highly significant difference between the mean of the experimental group and the mean of the control group (p <>

New Zealand and Australian units operated exclusively in III Corps. Operation Ranch Hand records show that III Corps received 21,521,614 litres of Agent Orange, 563,852 litres more than the other three zones combined.

The evidence is substantial to support the claim that New Zealand troops were both directly and indirectly exposed to the TCDD-containing herbicide Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam.

During the 1970s, returned Vietnam Veterans began to report skin rashes, cancers, psychological symptoms, extreme fatigue, congenital abnormalities as well as handicaps in their children, and many other health problems. In the USA some 300,000 veterans have undergone medical tests and an estimated 2,000 children of veterans are suffering from the birth defect spina bifida (Palmer, 2005). A Columbia University study also estimates that up to 4 million people may be directly affected by Agent Orange (Stellman et al., 2003).

Most veterans are concerned that Agent Orange exposure might have contributed to these health problems.

3.4.1 Conclusion
According to the guidelines published by the ICPS (Section 1 of this report) defining the significance of the endpoint of the SCE assay as a bioindicator of genetic damage, it is possible to draw the following conclusion from the results obtained from the current study:

The SCE assay conducted on a small sample of New Zealand Vietnam veterans in this study would suggest that these men have been exposed to a harmful clastogenic agent as a result of service in Vietnam. Within the strictures in interpreting the biological significance of this particular assay, there is an indication that these men may have incurred genetic damage.