| Agent Orange and Blue Water Navy Updates Agent Orange Briefs Agent Orange and Cancer Agent Orange Classified Info Zumwalt Report More on Zumwalt Agent Orange General Info Agent Orange and Your VA Claim Agent Orange and COPD 1 Agent Orange and COPD 2 Agent Orange and COPD 3 Agent Orange and COPD 4 Agent Orange Cover-up: Dioxin KILLS Web Site Agent Orange by Deana Feist Agent Orange and Diabetes Agent orange and Diabetes 2 Agent Orange and Dow Chemical Agent Orange Exam Agent Orange and High Blood Pressure AGENT ORANGE Law Suite Agent Orange Lawyer Agent Orange and Multiple Sclerosis AGENT ORANGE Outside of Vietnam, Canada: Agent Orange Outside Vietnam, Panama Agent Orange Panama Agent Orange Panama 2 AGENT ORANGE Quilt of Tears Agent Orange and Peripheral Neuropathy Agent Orange Review Agent Orange and Spina Bifida Agent Orange Terminology Air Force Admits Agent Orange Spraying at Eglin AFB, Florida Alvin Young Pages American Legion Service Officers AO Spray Map & Info "Must See AO Spray Map II Agent Orange Story Agent Orange Story in PDF Agent Orange, VA Claims and Appeals, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Agent Orange Wildgun Article on Defoliation Autoimmune Dysfunction In Vietnam Veterans Children of Women Vietnam Veterans Collateral Damage (2006) Compensation & Pension Benefits Cyber Sarge's Site Determining Agent Orange Exposure Dioxin Briefing Sheet Dioxin Homepage Dioxin Report DoD Medical Research Disabled American Veterans Service Office Directories DAV Excel Format Diseases Associated With AO Exposure to dioxins influences male reproductive system, study of Vietnam veterans concludes Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependants 2008 Gallons of Agent Orange, White & Blue Sprayed in Nam, Gary Jacobson Vietnam Picture Tour Information on Prostate Cancer IOM Health Of Veterans IOM Identifies Link with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Principi Extends Benefits List of Media Coverage for Hatfield Consultants Ltd. Studies on Agent Orange in Viet Nam Maps of Nam Military Base Pollution Clark Air Base Monsanto's Agent Orange MORE info on AO Chemicals MORE Problems Caused by AGENT ORANGE National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records Web Site Operation Ranch Hand Prostate Cancer Foundation POW/MIA Databases and Documents POW/MIA Through DNA Search The Wall Search the Wall 2 Seveso Studies on Early and Long-Term Effects of Dioxin Exposure Social Security Online Social Security Disability Secrets Social Security Disability Information Spina Bifida Handbook Supreme Court's Decision on AGENT ORANGE "June 2002" Thesis on Agent Orange by Deana Feist The Suicide Wall The Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives VA Forms VA's guide on Agent Orange claims Veterans Administration & Benefits Veterans Benefits for those exposed to Agent Orange Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange Vets Home Veterans With Diabetes Vietnam Veterans Benefit From Agent Orange Rules VFW Veterans Service Officers VFW National Veterans Service Program Roster Veterans Health Initiative (VHI) Agent Orange Veterans online application web site (VONAPP) Vietnam Casualties by State and City or Town Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) of 1974 Vietnam, Still at odds (2005) Vietnam War Resources Viper Vietnam Pages Virtual Vietnam Archive BOOKS / STUDIES on Agent Orange
ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry). 1998.
Toxicological profile for chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (Update). US
Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
Atlanta, Georgia. 678 p. with appendices.
ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry). 1997.
Interim Policy Guideline: Dioxin and Dioxin-like compounds in soil.
US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
Atlanta, Georgia.
Dioxins and Health. Arnold Schecter (ed.). New York, NY: Plenum
Press, 1994. ISBN: 0-306-44785-1.
Dioxin and its Analogues, Joint Report No. 4. Academie Des Sciences -
CADAS. Paris: Technique & Documentation - Lavoisier, 1995. ISBN: 2-
7430-0020-1.
Harvest of Death. J.B. Neilands, G.H. Orians, E.W. Pfeiffer, A.
Vennema, and A.H. Westing. New York, NY: The Free Press, 1972.
Library of Congress Number: 72-143521.
Herbicidal Warfare: The RANCH HAND Project in Vietnam. Paul F.
Cecil. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1986. ISBN: 0-275-92007-0.
My Father, My Son. E. Zumwalt Jr., E. Zumwalt III, and J. Pekkanen.
New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1986. ISBN: 0-02-633630-8.
The Wages of War: When American Soldiers Came Home - From Valley
Forge to Vietnam. R. Severo and L. Milford. New York, NY: Simon &
Schuster Inc., 1989. ISBN: 0-671-54325-3.
The Withering Rain. Thomas Whiteside. New York, NY: E.P. Dutton &
Co. Inc., 1971. Library of Congress Number: 77-148477.
After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Viet Nam. Ronald H. Spector. The
Free Press, New York. 1993. ISBN: 0-02-930380-X
In Retrospect - The Tragedy and Lessons of Viet Nam. Robert S.
McNamara. Random House, New York. 1995. ISBN: 0-8129-2523-8.
Veterans and Agent Orange. Committee to Review the Health Effects in
Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Division of Health
Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine. Washington,
D.C.: National Academy Press,
1994. ISBN: 0-309-04887-7.
1996 Update: ISBN: 0-309-05487-7.
1998 Update: ISBN: 0-309-06326-4.
2000 Update: ISBN: 0-309-07552-1.
VIETNAM: A History. Stanley Karnow. New York, NY: The Viking Press,
1983. ISBN: 0-670-74604-5.
Hamburger Hill. Samuel Zaffiri. Presido Press, Norato, Ca. 1988. New
edition printed 2000. ISBN: 0-89141-289-1.
Herbicides in War - The Long-term Ecological and Human Consequences.
A.H. Westing (ed.). Taylor and Francis, Philadelphia. 1984. ISBN: 0-
85066-265-6.
WHO/EURO. 1998a. WHO Revises the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) for
dioxins. World Health Organization European Centre for Environment
and Health; International Programme on Chemical Safety.
Organohalogen Compounds 38: 295-298.
WHO/EURO. 1998b. Assessment of the Health Risk of Dioxins: Re-
evaluation of the Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI). World Health
Organization, European Centre for Environment and Health;
International Programme on Chemical Safety. WHO Consultation, May 25-
29, 1998, Geneva, Switzerland.
WHO/EURO. 1991. Consultation on Tolerable Daily Intake from Food of
PCDDs and PCDFs, Bilthoven, Netherlands, 4-7 December 1990. Region
Office for Europe Summary Report. EUR/ICP/PCS 030(S)0369n. World
Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen.
WHO/EURO. 1989. Levels of PCBs, PCDDS and PCDFs in Breast Milk:
Results of WHO-coordinated interlaboratory quality control studies
and analytical field studies (Yrjanhaiki, EJ, ed).
Environmental Health Series Report #34.
Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe.
WHO/EURO. 1988. PCBs, PCDDs and PCDFs in Breast Milk:
Assessment of health risks (Grandjean, P et al., eds.).
Environmental Health Series Report #29. Copenhagen:
World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe.
Australian Vietnam Veterans Study
This 1997 study of 50,000 Australian Viet Nam veterans
entitled "Mortality of Vietnam Veterans: The Veteran Cohort Study"
found that the death rate among veterans between 1980 and 1994 was
some seven percent higher than for the overall male population. In
addition, the study found that the death rate from cancer was about
20 percent above average, and that veterans may face an increased
risk of death by suicide. The Australian government received this
information seriously since it has been documented that those
individuals who were in Viet Nam had successfully passed rigid
medical examinations and were therefore considered
"healthy"; those with congenital medical issues were rejected as
conscripts.
The report is available from:
Commonwealth Department of Veterans' Affairs
PO Box 21
Canberra, ACT 2601
AUSTRALIA
Agent Orange Presumptive List Expanded BY LEONARD J. SELFON, VETERANS BENEFITS PROGRAM Pursuant to the Agent Orange Act of 1991, the VA entered into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review the scientific associations between exposure to herbicides during the Vietnam War and diseases suspected to result from such exposure. NAS submits reports on its activities every two years. The law also provides that when, based on sound medical and scientific evidence, the VA determines that a positive association exists (i.e., the credible evidence for the association is equal to or outweighs the credible evidence against the association), the VA will publish regulations establishing presumptive service connection for that disease, (i.e., the veteran will not have to provide medical evidence of a relationship between exposure and the subsequent onset of the disease in question). The Secretary's determination must be based on a consideration of the NAS reports and all other available sound medical and scientific information and analysis. Between July 1993 and April 2001, the VA issued regulations that established presumptive service connection for several diseases for Vietnam veterans. These include: chloracne, Type II diabetes mellitus, Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy, porphyria cutanea tarda, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea), and certain soft-tissue sarcomas. If a veteran who was exposed to an herbicidal agent in service subsequently develops one of the presumptive diseases, the VA will presume that the disease was caused by the exposure to that herbicide for purposes of granting serviceconnected benefits. In each of its four previous biennial reports, the NAS determined that there was "inadequate/insufficient" evidence to determine an association between exposure to an herbicide agent and the development of leukemia. Following the 2001 NAS report, the VA asked NAS to review the possible association between exposure to Agent Orange and a particular form of leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In its 2002 update, NAS concluded that there is sufficient evidence of such an association. After considering all of the evidence, VA Secretary Principi determined that there is a positive credible association between exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam and the subsequent Occurrence of CLL and that a presumption of service connection for CLL is warranted. Consequently, on March 26 the VA published a proposed regulation to add CCL to the list of presumptively service-connected diseases incurred as the result of exposure to herbicides used in the Vietnam War. Interested organizations and individuals have until late May to provide their comments on the proposed regulation. The VA will then consider all of the comments received and issue a final regulation. USE OF AGENT ORANGE OUTSIDE OF VIETNAM The VA has announced that the Defense of Department (DoD) has released a list of locations outside of Vietnam where Agent Orange was used or tested over a number of years. The listings are mostly Army records, although there are a limited number of Navy and Air Force records. These listings relate only to chemical efficacy testing and/or operational testing. The records, however, do not refer to the use of Agent Orange or other chemicals in routine base maintenance activities, such as spraying along railroad tracks, weed control on rifle ranges, etc. The VA has been advised that information on such use does not exist. The VA does have significant information regarding Agent Orange use in Korea along the demilitarized zone (DMZ). DoD has confirmed that Agent Orange was used from April 1968 through July 1969 along the DMZ. The military defoliated the fields of fire between the front-line defensive positions and the south-barrier fence. The size of the treated area was a strip of land 151 miles long and up to 350 yards wide from the fence to north of the "civilian control line." There are no records that reflect spraying within the DMZ itself. Agent Orange and other herbicides were applied through hand spraying and by hand distribution of pelletized herbicides. Although restrictions limited the potential for spray drift, run-off, and crop damage, records indicate that effects of spraying were sometimes observed as far as 200 meters down wind. Units in the area during the period of use of herbicide include: the four combat brigades of the 2nd Infantry Division (1-38 Infantry, 2-38 Infantry, 1-23 Infantry, 2-23 Infantry, 3-23 Infantry, 3-32 Infantry, 109th Infantry, 209th Infantry, 1-72 Armor, 2-72 Armor, 4-7th Cavalry); and 3rd Brigade of the 7th. Infantry Division (1-17th Infantry, 2-17th Infantry, 1-73 Armor, 2-10th Cavalry). Field Artillery, Signal, and Engineer troops were supplied as support personnel as required. The estimated total number of exposed personnel is 12,056. For purposes of claims for service connection, if a veteran is determined to have been exposed to Agent Orange in Korea or in other recognized areas (e.g., Panama), then the presumption of service connection for the listed diseases applies. Special Compensation for 10 Diseases: As with veterans of any period, Vietnam veterans with disabilities arising during or aggravated by military service may receive monthly VA compensation. As knowledge has grown from studies of Agent Orange, some latent diseases that may not have become evident in service have been recognized presumptively. Based on clinical research, 10 such diseases are now on the presumptive list: chloracne, Hodgkin's disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, porphyria cutanea tarda, respiratory cancers (lung, bronchus, larynx and trachea), soft-tissue sarcoma, acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy, prostate cancer and spina bifida. Compensation, health care and vocation rehabilitation services are provided to Vietnam veterans' offspring with spina bifida, a congenital birth defect of the spine. Vietnam veterans are not required to prove exposure to Agent Orange; VA presumes that all military personnel who served in Vietnam were exposed to Agent Orange. |
