US cancels Agent Orange study in Vietnam

"Is Agent Orange responsible for deformities in the children and grandchildren of people exposed to it during the Vietnam war? Vietnam claims the herbicide, used by the US to reduce forest cover, is to blame. But the US has never accepted this. The chances of the issue ever being resolved receded last month when the US cancelled a multimillion-dollar research project. "

www.newscientist.com...

This is really disturbing. There is little doubt that the "dioxin" contained in "agent orange" is causing health issues and deformities in children. One of the reasons this study may have been cancelled is the same "chemicals" were used for many years as a "defoliant" in the cotton industry. The so called "defoliant" was sprayed on cotton to kill the leaves and make "picking" easier. In fact " agent orange" was used in the US more than is southeast asia. What isn't understood is IF the "defoliant' was effectively "washed" off during processing the cotton. Now many "chemicaled out" cotton fields have become subdivisions becuase nothing "valuable" could be grown there.

wow I can't believe it Horacid, a sensible issue to raise and one that I can agree with you on!! I thought you would be the first to claim how Agent Orange is as harmless as rainwater!!!

It's awful stuff and it should of never been used in Vietnam, though I can appreciate what they were trying to do to help our boys on the ground.

thanks,
drfunk

Actually I was there when they used it in Cambodia. It was really hard for my spotter and I to cross a couple of hundred yards of "desert" in the middle of the jungle with no "cover" even at night.

wow horacid's a nam vet eh, very interesting. of course it would be a bastard for you in your line of duty, but the military had their reasons for its use, even though it's an awful chemical. I wished it was never used.

thanks,
drfunk