Rainbow Herbicides
The Rainbow Herbicides are a group of tactical-use chemicals used by the
Background
The United States discovered 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) during World War II. It was recognized as toxic and was combined with large amounts of water or oil to function as a weed-killer. Army experiments with the chemical eventually led to the discovery that 2,4-D combined with 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) yielded a more potent herbicide.[1] Some batches of 2,4,5-T manufactured for Rainbow Herbicide use were later found to have been contaminated with synthesis-byproduct dioxins including 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD). Work by researcher Alvin Lee Young identifies examples of Agent Pink and Agent Green containing as much as double the TCDD concentrations observed in Agent Purple or Agent Orange.[2]
Types
This is a list of the different types of agents used, their active ingredients, and the years they were being used during the Vietnam War as follows:[3]
Name | Content | used |
---|---|---|
Agent Green | 100% n-butyl ester 2,4,5-T | prior to 1963[2] |
Agent Pink | 100% 2,4,5-T (60% n-butyl ester 2,4,5-T, and 40% iso-butyl ester of 2,4,5-T) | prior to 1964[2] |
Agent Purple | 50% 2,4,5-T (30% n-butyl ester of 2,4,5-T, and 20% iso-butyl ester of 2,4,5-T) and 50% n-butyl ester of 2,4-D |
1961–1965 |
Agent Blue (Phytar 560G) | 65.6% organic sodium cacodylate)[2] |
1962–1971[4] |
Agent White (Tordon 101) | 21.2% (acid weight basis) triisopropanolamine salts of 2,4-D and 5.7% picloram | 1966–1971[2][4] |
Agent Orange Herbicide Orange (HO) | 50% n-butyl ester 2,4-D and 50% n-butyl ester 2,4,5-T | 1965–1970 |
Agent Orange II | 50% n-butyl ester 2,4-D and 50% isooctyl ester 2,4,5-T | after 1968[5][6] |
Agent Orange III | 66.6% n-butyl 2,4-D and 33.3% n-butyl ester 2,4,5-T.[7] | |
Enhanced Agent Orange, Orange Plus, Super Orange (SO), or Dow Herbicide M-3393 | Standardized Agent Orange mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T combined with an oil-based mixture of |
Use
In Vietnam, the early large-scale defoliation missions (1962–1964) used 8,208 U.S. gal (31,070 L; 6,835 imp gal) of Agent Green, 122,792 U.S. gal (464,820 L; 102,246 imp gal) of Agent Pink, and 14,500 U.S. gal (55,000 L; 12,100 imp gal) of Agent Purple. These were dwarfed by the 11,712,860 U.S. gal (44,338,000 L; 9,753,000 imp gal) of Agent Orange (both versions) used from 1965 to 1970. Agent White started to replace Orange in 1966; 145,239,853 U.S. gal (549,792,650 L; 120,937,476 imp gal) of White were used. The only agent used on a large scale in an anti-crop role was Agent Blue, with 142,166,656 U.S. gal (538,159,330 L; 118,378,504 imp gal) used.
The rainbow herbicides damaged the ecosystems and cultivated lands of Vietnam, and led to buildup of dioxins in the regional food chain.[1] About 4.8 million people were affected.[11] The environmental destruction caused by this defoliation has been described by Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, lawyers, historians and other academics as an ecocide.[12][13][14][15][16]
In addition to testing and using the herbicides in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, the US military also tested the "Rainbow Herbicides" and many other chemical defoliants and herbicides in the United States,
A 2003 study in Nature found that the military underreported its use of rainbow herbicides by 2,493,792 U.S. gal (9,440,030 L; 2,076,516 imp gal).[11]
Long-term effects
Dioxins are endocrine disruptors and may have effects on the children of people who were exposed.[1]
Rainbow herbicides and other dioxin-like compounds are endocrine disruptors, and evidence suggests that they continue to have long-term health consequences many years after exposure. Because they mimic, or interfere with, hormonal function, adverse effects can include problems with reproduction, growth and development, immune function, and metabolic function. As an example, dioxins and dioxin-like compounds influence the hormone dehydoepiandosterone (DHEA), which has a role in the determination of male or female sex characteristics. There have been thousands of documented instances of health problems and birth defects associated with rainbow herbicide exposure in Vietnam, where tested levels remain high in the soil, water, and atmosphere, decades after initial exposure.
Soldiers exposed to Rainbow Herbicides in Southeast Asia reported long-term health effects, which led to several lawsuits against the U.S. government and the manufacturers of the chemical.[1]
See also
- List of Rainbow Codes
- Operation Ranch Hand
- U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories
- Dow Chemical Company
References
- ^ a b c d e f Ornitz, Sheri L. "Agent Orange and its Continuing Effects Archived 2015-02-09 at the Wayback Machine". British Travel Health Association Journal, vol. 10. Winter 2007.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-387-87486-9.
- S2CID 4419223.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-309-55619-4.
- ISBN 978-1-57356-557-8.
- ISBN 978-0-08-047610-0.
- ^ Archives Search Report Findings for Field Testing of 2,4,5-T and Other Herbicides (PDF) (Report). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District. 4 April 2012. p. 116. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
- ^ a b Corcoran, Charles A. (December 1968). "Operational Evaluation of Super-Orange (U)- unclassified". Military Assistance Command Vietnam(MAC-V) to Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) message for CINCPAC, USARPAC Ofc Science Adviser. via National Security Archives at George Washington University.
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(help) - ^ DGSC-PI Memorandum for the record: Herbicides reformulation thereof (Operation Guns and Butter meeting) (Report). Dow Chemical Company. September 9, 1966.
- ISBN 978-1-85109-961-0.
- ^ a b Wright, Laura. "New Study Finds Agent Orange Use Was Underestimated". Scientific American, April 17, 2003.
- ISBN 978-0-8203-3827-9.
- ^ "How Imperative Is It To Consider Ecocide As An International Crime?". IJLLR. 2022-12-18. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
- S2CID 144885326.
- ^ "Industrial disasters from Bhopal to present day: why the proposal to make 'ecocide' an international offence is persuasive – The Leaflet". theleaflet.in. 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
- SSRN 4072727.
- ^ "Herbicide Tests and Storage in the U.S." Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
- ^ "Herbicide Tests and Storage Outside the U.S." Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
- ^ Fryer, J. D.; Blackman, G. E. (January 1972). "Preliminary Proposals for the Study of Persistence of Herbicides in Forest and Mangrove Soil". NAS committee on the effect of Herbicides in Vietnam. National Academy of Science, (NAS).
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(help) - ^ Pelletier, Richard. "Agent Purple Deadlier than Agent Orange." Bangor Daily News, 1 July 2005.
Further reading
- Young, Alvin L. (December 2006). The History of the US Department of Defense Programs for the Testing, Evaluation, and Storage of Tactical Herbicides (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2016-09-02.. A more abbreviated version:
- "Update #1 to INFORMATION PAPER Agent Orange/Agent Purple and Canadian Forces Base Gagetown" Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management; Maine Veterans' Services. February 9, 2006.
- Herbicidal Warfare Vietnam 1961-1971 Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine. oneofmanyfeathers.com 2/1/2014.
External links
- Media related to Herbicidal warfare at Wikimedia Commons