USA: Vietnam too quick to blame their birth defects on Agent Orange; look into malnutrition.

[Bluebear]

Unconscionable.

...Vietnam says as many as 4 million of its citizens were exposed to the herbicide and as many as 3 million have suffered illnesses caused by it — including the children of people who were exposed during the war.

The U.S. government says the actual number of people affected is much lower and that Vietnamese are too quick to blame Agent Orange for birth defects that can be caused by malnutrition or other environmental factors.

"Scientists around the world have done a lot of research on dioxin and its possible health effects," said Michael Michalak, the U.S. ambassador in Hanoi. "There is disagreement as to what's real and what isn't, about what the possible connections are."

That position frustrates many Vietnamese, who point out that the U.S. government banned commercial use of the herbicide long ago and provides benefits to American veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100523/ap_on_re_as/as_vietnam_us_agent_orange

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Gee whiz. I wonder why they would be suffering from malnutrition?????

:crazy: :silly: :wtf:

The article calls it a "herbicide"...but it was a DEFOLIATING AGENT. I think that might mean it would DESTROY ANYTHING THAT GROWS!,
including harvestable food products......and therefore, even the livestock that feed off them..!!!

[Heywood J]

17. +1

It's funny how the effects of a twenty year war (including the French) can be overlooked in favor of a "cause" that's a disguised product of said war. Agent Orange is certainly toxic, but the effect of massive bombardment in causing malnutrition can't be overlooked.

[hlthe2b]

2. Malnutrition may well be a compounding factor... but

that certainly does not negate the agent orange primary effects... How proud we should all be of our government...:sarcasm:

[xchrom]

3. I guess our soldiers were too quick to blame Agent Orange as well? Nt

[Bluebear]

7. Yes. Yes, they were. They should eat better.

:eyes:

[pinboy3niner]

15. Must've been the C-Rats . . . nt

[Swamp Rat]

4. I bet they'll say something similar about all the dead fish in the Gulf of Mexico

It was the fault of Vietnamese fishermen.

[slampoet]

5. Malnutrition was the point of Agent Orange. IT was a weapon to attack Vietnam as the rice bowl of

the region. IT WORKED. In the 1940's and 50's Vietnam supplied enough rice to feed itself and the whole area as well. Now Vietnam needs to import rice in order to feed its own people.


Agent Orange is a weapon of Malnutrition that has Toxic chemical side effects.

[Cleita]

6. My money is on Agent Orange being the main culprit.

I knew a Vietnam vet, whose job was dumping Agent Orange on the fields. After suffering from deteriorating mental abilities, he eventually lost his mind and is institutionalized today. The army still won't admit that the Agent Orange is the cause although his family finally got benefits for him after a long struggle with them.

[athenasatanjesus]

8. So the US would rather take credit for causing malnutrition then agent orange exposure?

I'm sure there are Iraqi orphans right now that will grow up with mental illnesses caused by injuries they suffered during the occupation,and when we are called out for causing said mental illnesses we can just claim it was the result of bad upbringings.

[Catherina]

9. To think Monsanto people keep getting appointed to high government posts

here.


They'll tell us something along the same lines soon.

[The River]

10. AO is Deadly

It was used as a defoliant in the jungle canopy(NOT rice fields) to deny the VC cover from the air
and around fire bases to clear underbrush in the "fire zone".
I have an AO cancer, among other wounds.
I've never seen such clueless comments.
If you didn't go there, STFU.

[charlesg]

11. Coming Soon: Corexit 9500 dispersant not causing illnesses. It's malnutrition!

[PDJane]

12. If Americans want to know why 'they' hate you........

You don't have to look much further than this callousness.

Of course, fish from viet nam is showing up in the grocery stores in North America, so that's one way to get even, I suppose.

[pinboy3niner]

13. This is obscene

For children of OUR Vietnam vets, spina bifida and certain other birth defects are PRESUMED to have been caused by the parent's service in VN and exposure to Agent Orange. This is not limited to "HOT SPOTS"--it applies to service ANYWHERE in South Vietnam. The affected children are eligible for COMPENSATION, VA-FINANCED HEALTH CARE AND VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION.

According to DVA's Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards:

Eligibility for Compensation for Birth Defects

There are different eligibility requirements for children with spina bifida and children with other birth defects.

Vietnam Veterans’ Children with Spina Bifida

Children who have spina bifida and are biological children of veterans who served in Vietnam or in the demilitarized zone in Korea during the Vietnam era may be eligible if the birth father or mother served:

■In Vietnam during the period from January 9, 1962 through May 7, 1975, or
■In or near the Korean demilitarized zone during the period from September 1, 1967 through August 31, 1971 and were exposed to herbicides.

Women Vietnam Veterans’ Children with Birth Defects

Children who have certain birth defects and are biological children of women veterans who served in Vietnam may be eligible if the birth mother served:

■In Vietnam during the period beginning February 28, 1961 and ending on May 7, 1975.

The affected child must have:

■Been conceived after the date on which the veteran first entered the Republic of Vietnam.
■A birth defect, which resulted in a permanent physical or mental disability.
The covered birth defects do not include conditions due to family disorders, birth-related injuries, or fetal or neonatal infirmities with well-established causes.

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/benefits_children.asp

[MrScorpio]

14. Legal Liability Definition:

Obligations under law arising from civil actions (torts) or under contract. Legal liability can only be decided by courts even if the settlement is made out of the court by mutual agreement. Liability insurance normally covers only the liability arising from torts and not from the contractual obligations.

[WinkyDink]

16. And for whose Administration does this Ambassador apeak?

[Bluebear]

18. Quiet, he's only been in office 18 months.

:silly:

[era veteran]

19. Assholes, did somebody deign to sue Monsanto??

We know people who died from that shit. Once you smell that stuff, you never forget it, and you can tell that smell is evil and death. Monsanto is truly the Evil Empire.

[PDJane]

22. That was tried.

US courts denied liability. In 2006. There's lots to find about it.

[cliffordu]

20. Well....THey could be partially right...

Agent orange killed tons of crops, too, leading to malnutrition...Right???

:shrug:

[Cleobulus]

21. Just fucking great, this ambassador needs to be fired...

What a fucking asshole.

[Bluebear]

23. "Diplomatic" ain't he?

[G_j]

24. Dioxin

http://www.ejnet.org/dioxin/

What is dioxin?

Dioxins and furans are some of the most toxic chemicals known to science. A draft report released for public comment in September 1994 by the US Environmental Protection Agency clearly describes dioxin as a serious public health threat. The public health impact of dioxin may rival the impact that DDT had on public health in the 1960's. According to the EPA report, not only does there appear to be no "safe" level of exposure to dioxin, but levels of dioxin and dioxin-like chemicals have been found in the general US population that are "at or near levels associated with adverse health effects."

Dioxin is a general term that describes a group of hundreds of chemicals that are highly persistent in the environment. The most toxic compound is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin or TCDD. The toxicity of other dioxins and chemicals like PCBs that act like dioxin are measured in relation to TCDD. Dioxin is formed as an unintentional by-product of many industrial processes involving chlorine such as waste incineration, chemical and pesticide manufacturing and pulp and paper bleaching. Dioxin was the primary toxic component of Agent Orange, was found at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, NY and was the basis for evacuations at Times Beach, MO and Seveso, Italy.

Does dioxin cause cancer?


Yes. The EPA report confirmed that dioxin is a cancer hazard to people. In 1997, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) -- part of the World Health Organization -- published their research into dioxins and furans and announced on February 14, 1997, that the most potent dioxin, 2,3,7,8-TCDD, is a now considered a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning a "known human carcinogen."

Also, in January 2001, the U.S. National Toxicology Program upgraded 2,3,7,8-TCDD from "Reasonably Anticipated to be a Human Carcinogen" to "Known to be a Human Carcinogen." See their reports on dioxins and furans from their most recent 11th Report on Carcinogens. Finally, a 2003 re-analysis of the cancer risk from dioxin reaffirmed that there is no known "safe dose" or "threshold" below which dioxin will not cause cancer.

A July 2002 study shows dioxin to be related to increased incidence of breast cancer.

What other health problems are linked to dioxin exposure?

In addition to cancer, exposure to dioxin can also cause severe reproductive and developmental problems (at levels 100 times lower than those associated with its cancer causing effects). Dioxin is well-known for its ability to damage the immune system and interfere with hormonal systems.

Dioxin exposure has been linked to birth defects, inability to maintain pregnancy, decreased fertility, reduced sperm counts, endometriosis, diabetes, learning disabilities, immune system suppression, lung problems, skin disorders, lowered testosterone levels and much more. For an detailed list of health problems related to dioxin, read the People's Report on Dioxin.

[Swamp Rat]

27. We poison ourselves at home too

Read further at the Wiki link if interested in the toxic affects on humans and animals:

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs; CAS number 1336-36-3 ) are a class of organic compounds with 1 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx, where x = 1-10. PCBs were widely used for many applications, especially as dielectric fluids in transformers, capacitors, and coolants. Due to PCB's toxicity and classification as a persistent organic pollutant, PCB production was banned by the United States Congress in 1979 and by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001.

(snip)

New York State

Between approximately 1947 and 1977 General Electric Company (GE) released up to 1,300,000 pounds (590,000 kg) of PCBs into the Hudson River. The PCBs came from the company's two capacitor manufacturing plants at Hudson Falls and Fort Edward in New York State.

In 1976, because of concern over continuing high levels of PCBs in local fish and other aquatic organisms, and the unacceptable risk to the health of consumers of such fish, the NYSDEC banned all fishing in the Upper Hudson River, as well as commercial fishing of striped bass and several other species in the Lower Hudson River, and also issued advisories restricting the consumption of fish caught within a 20-mile (30 km) long segment of the Hudson River from Hudson Falls to Troy.

There have been many programs of remediation work to reduce the PCB pollution. In 1984, approximately 200 miles (320 km) of the Hudson River was designated a Superfund site, and attempts to cleanup the Upper Hudson River began, including the removal in 1977-8 of 180,000 cubic yards (140,000 m3) of contaminated river sediments near Fort Edward In 1991, further PCB pollution was found at Bakers Falls near the former GE Hudson Falls factory, and a program of remediation was started. In August 1995, a 40-mile (64 km) reach of the Upper Hudson was re-opened to fishing but only on a catch-and-release basis. Removal of contaminated soil from Rogers Island was completed in December 1999. In 2002, the EPA announced a further 2,650,000 cubic yards (2,030,000 m3) of contaminated sediments in the Upper Hudson River would be removed.


Indiana

From the late 1950s through 1977, Westinghouse Electric used PCBs in the manufacture of capacitors in its Bloomington, Indiana plant. Reject capacitors were hauled and dumped in area salvage yards and landfills, including Bennett's Dump, Neal's Landfill and Lemon Lane Landfill. Workers also dumped PCB oil down factory drains which contaminated the city sewage treatment plant. The City of Bloomington gave away the sludge to area farmers and gardeners, creating anywhere from 200 to 2000 sites which remain unaddressed. Over 2 million pounds of PCBs were estimated to have been dumped in Monroe and Owen Counties. Although federal and state authorities have been working on the sites' environmental remediation, many areas remain contaminated. Concerns have been raised regarding the removal of PCBs from the karst limestone topography, and regarding the possible disposal options. To date, the Westinghouse Bloomington PCB Superfund site case does not have a RI/FS (Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study) and ROD (Record of Decision), although Westinghouse signed a US Department of Justice Consent Decree in 1985. The 1985 Consent Decree required Westinghouse to construct an incinerator that would incinerate PCB-contaminated materials. However, due to public opposition to the incinerator, the State of Indiana passed a number of laws that delayed and blocked the construction of the incinerator. Consent Decree parties began to explore alternative remedies in 1994 for six of the main PCB contaminated sites.

On February 15, 2008, Monroe County approved a plan to clean up the 3 remaining contaminated sites in the City of Bloomington, at a cost of $9.6m to CBS Corp., the successor of Westinghouse.

The Great Lakes

Much of the Great Lakes area is still heavily polluted with PCBs, despite extensive remediation work. Locally caught fresh water fish and shellfish are contaminated with PCBs and their consumption is restricted.
From 1959 to 1971, Waukegan Harbor in Illinois on Lake Michigan was contaminated with PCBs discharged by the Outboard Marine Corp.

Alabama

PCBs (manufactured through most of the 20th century) originating from Monsanto Chemical Company in Anniston, Alabama leaked into Snow creek, then Choccolocco Creek, then Logan Martin Lake. In the early 2000s, class action lawsuits (led, in at least one case, by the late Johnnie Cochran) were settled by local land owners, including those on Logan Martin Lake, and Lay Reservoir (downstream on the Coosa River), for the PCB pollution.

Today, the highest pollution levels remain concentrated in Snow and Choccolocco Creeks. Concentrations in fish have and continue to decline over time, however, sediment disturbance can resuspend the PCBs from the sediment back into the water column and food web.

(snip)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychlorinated_biphenyl

_______________________

PCB Contamination of the Hudson River: A Chronology

1929 Monsanto co. begins manufacturing PCBs.
1968 PCB poisoning event in Yusho, Japan leads to awareness of toxic effects of PCBs.
1973 U.S. Food and Drug Administration establishes a tolerance level of 5.0 parts per million (ppm) in fish. Ft. Edward Dam removed from upper Hudson River, causing large migration of PCBs into the lower Hudson and exposing river bank "remnant deposits".
1974 An EPA survey shows high PCB levels in Hudson River fish.
1975 Administrative Hearings begin between G.E. and DEC, regarding PCB discharges.
Fall 1975 NYS DEC survey confirms findings of high PCB levels in Hudson River fish.
1976 Congress passes the Toxic substances Control Act banning the manufacture of PCBs and prohibiting all uses except in totally enclosed systems.
2/25/76 DEC bans all fishing in the upper Hudson from the Ft. Edward Dam to the federal dam at Albany, closes Hudson River commercial fisheries (including american eel and striped bass), and issues health advisories on fish consumption.
2/76 Administrative Hearing finds PCB contamination due to corporate abuse and regulatory failure.
4/76 "100 year flood" causes large movement of contaminated sediments from the upper Hudson into the lower river.

(snip)

http://www.rpi.edu/dept/environ/orgs/Clearwater/chronology.html

[G_j]

28. and now coming from hundreds of products

that end up in the water, sorry to be so depressing, what is it lately??

(http://www.democraticunderground.com/searchresults.html?q=+triclosan&sitesearch=democraticunderground.com&sa=Search&domains=democraticunderground.com&client=pub-7805397860504090&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A11&hl=en


http://www.minnpost.com/scientificagenda/2010/05/19/18271/dioxins_derived_from_hand_soap_etc_increasingly_seen_in_mississippi_u_of_m_research_finds

A new University of Minnesota study found that certain types of dioxins derived from many popular cleaning agents are showing up increasingly in the sediments of the Mississippi River as it flows through Southeastern Minnesota.

Dioxins can be highly toxic, causing liver disease, birth defects and other disorders, according to the National Research Council. They can persist in soil and sediment for decades and also in the flesh of fish and other animals. One notorious and devastating application of a dioxin was the U.S. spraying of the herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

U of M researchers say that the toxicity of dioxins generated by the compound they studied is “not well understood.” Also unknown is the extent to which they have spread broadly in the environment. The study was spearheaded by Jeff Buth, a recent Ph.D. graduate in chemistry, with collaboration from other scientists at the U of M, the Science Museum of Minnesota, Virginia Tech and Pace Analytical of Minneapolis.
From deodorant to socks

The Minnesota research, reported online in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, focused on triclosan, an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent that was first added to commercial liquid hand soap in 1987.
By 2001 about 76 percent of commercial liquid hand soaps contained the compound, the researchers say. It also went into deodorants, shaving gels, cutting boards — even toys, work clothes and socks. We are so surrounded by the compound that it is found in the urine of 75 percent of the U.S. population, the Washington Post reported.

In April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it would take a fresh look at the safety of triclosan. Among the FDA’s concerns was whether the compound disrupts the body’s endocrine system as it regulates growth and development. Another worry is whether it gives bacteria better chances of resisting antibiotics.
European countries have banned or restricted use of the chemical, and some Congress members are calling for restrictions here too.

[defendandprotect]

25. Denials still going on . . . terrible!! With our own soldiers as well !!

[Dystopian]

26. KandR.

Tragic.
I know.

peace~

[Dystopian]

29. Agent Orange

peace~