What is Agent Orange?
Agent orange was a chemical the United States sprayed in order to eliminate foliage that enemy guerillas used as cover in the Vietnam War. It was also used to increase visibility around military bases. As a tool of war the U.S also applied herbicides to rice crops, in an effort to eliminate their enemy’s food source. Agent Orange is just one of several chemical defoliants used in the Vietnam War. There was Agent Pink, Green, Purple, Blue and White. Named for the color strips around the outside of the barrels that contained the toxic substances.
Operation Ranch Hand was the mission under which the herbicides were sprayed. Of all the chemicals sprayed in Vietnam “between August 1961 and April 1971, the US Military is reported to have dispersed some 72 million liters of herbicides over the former South Vietnam, of which 42 million liters were Agent Orange.” (Palmer)
Agent orange is made up of two chemicals 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D. Each of these chemicals by themselves are common weed killers still used today. Once mixed together, in their 50/50 ratio, they become extremely potent. Due to the high levels of demand for the rainbow of herbicides, chemical companies often took short cuts when it came to preparing the toxins. As David Zierler argues in his book The Invention of Ecocide, the amount of toxins produced can be lessened if the production is given enough time and prepared thoroughly. When the proper precautions are not taken high levels of TCDD are left behind. TCDD is the toxin that persists for years after the spraying of herbicides. Short for 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, it is often simply called dioxin. This dioxin is what pollutes the ground, and the water table. There is evidence that military officials were aware of the damage the faster paced production would produce, but because it was to be used on the enemy, they simply did not care. The chemicals themselves are actually a growth hormone. If added to the plant in small amounts it increases the plants growth. If too much is added the plant grows rapidly, until the plant can’t handle it, and it shrivels and dies.
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