Personal Stories

Family of Huynh Thi To

Family of Nguyen Van Quy and
 Le Thi Teo

Family of Do Duc Loi and Mai Thi Hoi

Family of Ninh Xuan Thong and
 Nguyen Thi Hoa

The component that made the use of Agent Orange and some of the other defoliants so dangerous was the TCDD, commonly referred to as Dioxin.  One of the most toxic chemicals known to man, it is so potent that it only takes extremely small quantities to cause damage to a person and their children through cancers, severe birth defects and many other diseases. 

Even after the final mission for spraying ended and the herbicides and defoliants dissipated, the dioxin has remained.  Today, 30 years after the war has ended, traces of the compound can still be found in the environment and people who were exposed. 

 TCDD is extremely dangerous to have in the environment as people can be contaminated through touch, consumption, or simply just by inhaling the particles.  During the war people were at extreme risk when farming and working the lands that were sprayed everyday. Currently in Viet Nam the dioxin that remains in the soil and sediment of rivers and ponds still poses a threat.  As the people eat fish and animals such as ducks, which get their food from the contaminated soil, they are in turn consume the poison. 

Dioxin is being studied continuously and has been found to cause many different cancers and other diseases such as Chloracnea, numerous cancers, and diabetes. The damage can be passed onto the children of those exposed. Dioxin has been linked to the causation of spina bifida and other birth defects and is believed to cause learning and mental disabilities in children.  For more information please follow the links at the top to the more information page for a list of resources.  Or for a short list of some diseases associated with the toxin go to http://www.lewispublishing.com/vacomp.htm