Agent Orange in Vietnam

“In Vietnam, the poorest, the most miserable and the most discriminated ones are the Agent Orange victims."

- Dr. Phan Thi Phi Phi, The Vietnam Association for Agent Orange victims, 2004

Dow’s chemicals greatly affected both the Vietnamese vegetation and population when the U.S. deployed its Agent Orange throughout South Vietnam. Between 1962 and 1971, U.S. planes sprayed an estimated 21 million gallons of chemicals over densely covered forest areas to target Vietnamese armies.

The most extensively used herbicide was Agent Orange, named for the orange stripes on the drums used to ship the chemical concoction. Dow supplied approximately one third of the nearly 13 million gallons of Agent Orange which was dropped by the planeload over thousands of acres in Vietnam.

Dow with held information to the US government that Agent Orange contained deadly levels of dioxin. Once notified the government was slow in halting the use of this chemical. By the mid 1960s, there were reports of increased miscarriages, stillbirths and birth defects among the Vietnamese people. In 1984, Dow Chemical reached a settlement with the US Veterans who sued for compensation for personal and family injuries resulting from Agent Orange exposure, however in the settlement Dow refused to acknowledge that they were liable. Vietnamese nationals filed a lawsuit against Dow and the other companies that produced Agent Orange in January 2005.  The case was dismissed in March 2005, however, the Vietnamese are appealing to have the case reinstated by the Second Circuit Court in Manhattan.

The Vietnam Friendship Society in Britain has initiated a petition to the US Government in support for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange. In March 2004, more than 4,000 concerned people from around the world signed the petition demonstrating the global reach of solidarity for Agent Orange victims. Since then on-line signatures have reached over 700,000 in support for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange, more than 12 million Vietnamese have signed the petition.

 

Fund for Reconciliation and Development's site on Agent Orange

Collectif Vietnam Dioxine - Signe le lettre ouvert (in French)

Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (in Vietnamese)

Vietnam Relief and Responsibility Campaign