Editing Agent Orange (section)

===Vietnam veterans===
[[File:U.S. propaganda for agent orange 1.jpg|thumb|474x474px|A United States disinformation [[propaganda]] poster in Vietnamese describing how 'safe' Agent Orange is, intended to refute the "communist's propaganda". However, scientists within the United States had been protesting the use of Agent Orange since 1966, on the basis that it was a chemical weapon used indiscriminately, even before its toxic effects to humans were established in print.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Herbicides |first1=Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to |title=History of the Controversy Over the Use of Herbicides |journal=Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam |date=1994 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236351/ |publisher=National Academies Press (US) |language=en}}</ref>]]
While in Vietnam, U.S. and [[Free World Military Assistance Forces]] soldiers were told not to worry about Agent Orange and were persuaded the chemical was harmless.<ref name="Hermann">{{cite web |last=Hermann |first=Kenneth J. |url=http://politicalaffairs.net/killing-me-softly-how-agent-orange-murders-vietnam-s-children/ |title=Killing Me Softly: How Agent Orange Murders Vietnam's Children |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140917092644/http://politicalaffairs.net/killing-me-softly-how-agent-orange-murders-vietnam-s-children/ |archive-date=2014-09-17 |work=Political Affairs |date=April 25, 2006}}</ref> After returning home, Vietnam veterans from all countries that served began to suspect their ill health or the instances of their wives having miscarriages or children born with birth defects might be related to Agent Orange and the other toxic herbicides to which they had been exposed in Vietnam.

====U.S veterans====
U.S. Veterans began to file claims in 1977 to the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Department of Veterans Affairs]] for disability payments for health care for conditions they believed were associated with exposure to Agent Orange, or more specifically, dioxin, but their claims were denied unless they could prove the condition began when they were in the service or within one year of their discharge.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43790.pdf |title=Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange: Legislative History, Litigation, and Current Issues |last1=Sidath |first1=Viranga Panangala |last2=Shedd |first2=Daniel |date=November 18, 2014 |publisher=Congressional Research Service |id=R43790 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321170713/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43790.pdf |archive-date=March 21, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In order to qualify for compensation, U.S. veterans must have served on or near the perimeters of military bases in Thailand during the Vietnam Era, where herbicides were tested and stored outside of Vietnam, veterans who were crew members on C-123 planes flown after the Vietnam War, or were associated with Department of Defense (DoD) projects to test, dispose of, or store herbicides in the U.S.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-postservice-agent_orange.asp |title=Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange |date=January 19, 2018 |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs |access-date=February 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203125103/https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-postservice-agent_orange.asp |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

By April 1993, the Department of Veterans Affairs had compensated only 486 victims, although it had received disability claims from 39,419 soldiers who had been exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fleischer |first1=Doris Zames |last2=Zames |first2=Freida |title=The disability rights movement: from charity to confrontation |publisher=Temple University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-56639-812-1 |page=178 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3t84d8tLEVcC&pg=PA178 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228092239/https://books.google.com/books?id=3t84d8tLEVcC&pg=PA178 |archive-date=2017-02-28 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In a November 2004 [[Zogby International]] poll of 987 people, 79% of respondents thought the U.S. chemical companies which produced Agent Orange defoliant should compensate U.S. soldiers who were affected by the toxic chemical used during the war in Vietnam and 51% said they supported compensation for Vietnamese Agent Orange victims.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/relations/most-americans-favor-compensation-agent-orange-victims |first=Ha |last=Nguyen |title=Most Americans favor compensation for Agent Orange victims |publisher=Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the United States |date=November 19, 2004 |access-date=2017-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331115923/http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/relations/most-americans-favor-compensation-agent-orange-victims|archive-date=March 31, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Australian and New Zealand veterans====
Several official investigations in Australia failed to prove otherwise<ref>From the archives: Royal Commission findings clear Agent Orange | https://www.smh.com.au/national/from-the-archives-royal-commission-findings-clear-agent-orange-20190805-p52e0d.html</ref> even though extant American investigations had already established that defoliants were sprayed at U.S. airbases including [[Bien Hoa Air Base]] where Australian and New Zealand forces first served before being given their own [[Tactical area of responsibility]] (TAOR.) Even then, Australian and New Zealand non-military and military contributions saw personnel from both countries spread over Vietnam such as the hospitals at [[Bong Son]] and [[Qui Nhon]], on secondments at various bases, and as flight crew and ground crew for flights into and out of [[Da Nang Air Base]] - all areas that were well-documented as having been sprayed.<ref>Maps of Heavily Sprayed Areas and Dioxin Hot Spots | https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/agent-orange-in-vietnam-program/maps-of-heavily-sprayed-areas-and-dioxin-hot-spots/</ref><ref>' Nurse in Vietnam - Frances Palmer ', URL: https://vietnamwar.govt.nz/memory/nurse-vietnam-frances-palmer, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 16-Nov-2022</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vietnamwar.govt.nz/nz-vietnam-war/surgical-and-medical-support|title=Surgical and medical support|work=VietnamWar.govt.nz, New Zealand and the Vietnam War|access-date=2014-08-05|archive-date=29 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429150937/http://www.vietnamwar.govt.nz/nz-vietnam-war/surgical-and-medical-support|url-status=live}}</ref>

It wasn't until a group of Australian veterans produced official military records, maps, and mission data as proof that the TAOR controlled by Australian and New Zealand forces in Vietnam had been sprayed with the chemicals in the presence of personnel that the Australian government was forced to change their stance. Only in 1994 did the Australian government finally admit that it was true that defoliants had been used in areas of Vietnam where Australian forces operated and the effects of these may have been detrimental to some Vietnam veterans and their children.<ref name=":3">DVA (Department of Veterans' Affairs) (2023 ), Agent Orange and other chemicals in the Vietnam War, DVA Anzac Portal, accessed 24 January 2024, https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/vietnam-war-1962-1975/events/aftermath/agent-orange</ref>

It was only in 2015 that the official [[Australian War Memorial]] accepted rewriting the official history of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War to acknowledge that Australian soldiers were exposed to defoliants used in Vietnam.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/win-for-vietnam-vets-with-agent-orange-war-history-to-be-rewritten-20140502-zr2fl.html|title=Win for Vietnam vets with Agent Orange war history to be rewritten|first=Gregory|last=Pemberton|date=May 1, 2014|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>

New Zealand was even slower to correct their error, with the government going as far as to deny the legitimacy of the Australian reports in a report called the "McLeod Report" published by Veterans Affairs NZ in 2001 thus infuriating New Zealand veterans and those associated with their cause.<ref>'Observing Agent Orange ', URL: https://vietnamwar.govt.nz/memory/observing-agent-orange, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 20-May-2020</ref><ref>' Agent Orange spraying - Ian Thorpe ', URL: https://vietnamwar.govt.nz/audio/agent-orange-spraying-ian-thorpe, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 10-Sep-2013</ref>

In 2006 progress was made in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the New Zealand government, representatives of New Zealand Vietnam veterans, and the [[Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association]] (RSA) for monetary compensation for New Zealand Vietnam veterans who have conditions as evidence of association with exposure to Agent Orange, as determined by the United States National Academy of Sciences. In 2008 the New Zealand government finally admitted that New Zealanders had in fact been exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam and the experience was responsible for detrimental health conditions in veterans and their children.<ref>Māori war veteran's skin still peeling 50 years after Agent Orange exposure | URL=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/443953/maori-war-veteran-s-skin-still-peeling-50-years-after-agent-orange-exposure (New Zealand Herald)</ref> Amendments to the memorandum made in 2021 meant that more veterans were eligible for an ex gratia payment of NZ$40,000.<ref>'More Vietnam Veterans to receive compensation for Agent Orange Exposure' | https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/more-vietnam-veterans-receive-compensation-agent-orange-exposure | (New Zealand Government)</ref>

====National Academy of Medicine (Institute of Medicine)====
Starting in the early 1990s, the federal government directed the Institute of Medicine (IOM), now known as the [[National Academy of Medicine]], to issue reports every 2 years on the health effects of Agent Orange and similar herbicides. First published in 1994 and titled ''Veterans and Agent Orange'', the IOM reports assess the risk of both cancer and non-cancer health effects. Each health effect is categorized by evidence of association based on available research data.<ref name="acs"/> The last update was published in 2016, entitled ''Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2014''.

The report shows sufficient evidence of an association with soft tissue sarcoma; non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL); Hodgkin disease; Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL); including hairy cell leukemia and other chronic B-cell leukemias.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Agent Orange and Cancer Risk {{!}} American Cancer Society |url=https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/chemicals/agent-orange-and-cancer.html |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=www.cancer.org |language=en}}</ref> Limited or suggested evidence of an association was linked with respiratory cancers (lung, bronchus, trachea, larynx); prostate cancer; multiple myeloma; and bladder cancer. Numerous other cancers were determined to have inadequate or insufficient evidence of links to Agent Orange.<ref name=":0" />

The National Academy of Medicine has repeatedly concluded that any evidence suggestive of an association between Agent Orange and prostate cancer is, "limited because chance, bias, and confounding could not be ruled out with confidence."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Institute of Medicine |title=Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam: Update 11 |date=2018 |publisher=The National Academies Press |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0-309-47716-1 |url=http://nap.edu/25137 |access-date=25 December 2018 |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225043448/https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25137/veterans-and-agent-orange-update-11-2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

At the request of the Veterans Administration, the Institute Of Medicine evaluated whether service in these C-123 aircraft could have plausibly exposed soldiers and been detrimental to their health. Their report ''Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure in Agent Orange-Contaminated C-123 Aircraft'' confirmed it.<ref name="c-123">{{cite report|author=((Committee to Evaluate the Potential Exposure of Agent Orange/TCDD Residue and Level of Risk of Adverse Health Effects for Aircrew of Post-Vietnam C-123 Aircraft; Board on the Health of Select Populations))|title=Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure in Agent Orange-Contaminated C-123 Aircraft|url=https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18848/post-vietnam-dioxin-exposure-in-agent-orange-contaminated-c-123-aircraft|access-date=2015-09-03|work=Institute of Medicine|date=|archive-date=May 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501153932/https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18848/post-vietnam-dioxin-exposure-in-agent-orange-contaminated-c-123-aircraft|url-status=live}}</ref>

====U.S. Public Health Service====
Publications by the [[United States Public Health Service]] have shown that Vietnam veterans, overall, have increased rates of cancer, and nerve, digestive, skin, and respiratory disorders. The [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] notes that in particular, there are higher rates of acute/chronic leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, throat cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, [[Ischemic heart disease]], soft tissue sarcoma, and liver cancer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publichealth.va.gov/epidemiology/studies/heroes/index.asp|title=Vietnam Era Health Retrospective Observational Study |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs |language=en|access-date=2017-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225131928/http://www.publichealth.va.gov/epidemiology/studies/heroes/index.asp|archive-date=2017-02-25|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ncbi.nlm.nih.gov">{{Cite journal |date=1987-02-13 |title=Postservice mortality among Vietnam veterans. The Centers for Disease Control Vietnam Experience Study |journal=JAMA |volume=257 |issue=6 |pages=790–795 |pmid=3027422 |doi=10.1001/jama.1987.03390060080028|hdl=2027/ucbk.ark:/28722/h27w6770k |hdl-access=free}}</ref> With the exception of liver cancer, these are the same conditions the [[U.S. Veterans Administration]] has determined may be associated with exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin and are on the list of conditions eligible for compensation and treatment.<ref name="ncbi.nlm.nih.gov"/><ref name="va-03-2010">{{cite web|url=http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/diseases.asp |title=Agent Orange: Diseases Associated with Agent Orange Exposure |publisher=United States Department of Veterans Affairs |date=March 25, 2010 |access-date=May 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100509191150/http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/diseases.asp |archive-date=May 9, 2010}}</ref>

Military personnel who were involved in storage, mixture and transportation (including aircraft mechanics), and actual use of the chemicals were probably among those who received the heaviest exposures.{{sfn|Frumkin|2003|p=257}} Military members who served on Okinawa also claim to have been exposed to the chemical, but there is no verifiable evidence to corroborate these claims.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Jon |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110412zg.html |title=Evidence for Agent Orange on Okinawa |newspaper=[[Japan Times]] |date=April 12, 2011 |page=12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011091450/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110412zg.html |archive-date=October 11, 2011}}</ref>

Some studies have suggested that veterans exposed to Agent Orange may be more at risk of developing prostate cancer<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chamie |first1=Karim |last2=deVere White |first2=Ralph W. |last3=Lee |first3=Denis |last4=Ok |first4=Joonha |last5=Ellison |first5=Lars M. |title=Agent Orange exposure, Vietnam War veterans, and the risk of prostate cancer |journal=Cancer |date=17 October 2008 |volume=113 |issue=9 |pages=2464–2470 |doi=10.1002/cncr.23695 |pmid=18666213 |s2cid=7623342 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and potentially more than twice as likely to develop higher-grade, more lethal prostate cancers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ansbaugh |first1=Nathan |last2=Shannon |first2=Jackilen |last3=Mori |first3=Motomi |last4=Farris |first4=Paige E. |last5=Garzotto |first5=Mark |title=Agent Orange as a risk factor for high-grade prostate cancer |journal=Cancer |date=1 July 2013 |volume=119 |issue=13 |pages=2399–2404 |doi=10.1002/cncr.27941 |pmid=23670242 |pmc=4090241 |ref=Garzotto, 2013}}</ref> However, a critical analysis of these studies and 35 others consistently found that there was no significant increase in prostate cancer incidence or mortality in those exposed to Agent Orange or 2,3,7,8-tetracholorodibenzo-''p''-dioxin.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=ET |last2=Boffetta |first2=P |last3=Adami |first3=HO |last4=Cole |first4=P |last5=Mandel |first5=JS |title=A critical review of the epidemiology of Agent Orange/TCDD and prostate cancer |journal=Eur J Epidemiol |date=2014 |volume=29 |issue=10 |pages=667–723 |doi=10.1007/s10654-014-9931-2 |pmid=25064616 |pmc=4197347 |ref=Chang, 2014}}</ref>

====U.S. Veterans of Laos and Cambodia====
During the Vietnam War, the United States fought the [[North Vietnamese]], and their allies, in [[Laotian Civil War|Laos]] and [[Operation Menu|Cambodia]], including heavy bombing campaigns. They also sprayed large quantities of Agent Orange in each of those countries. According to one estimate, the U.S. dropped {{convert|475,500|U.S.gal|abbr=on}} in Laos and {{convert|40,900|U.S.gal|abbr=on}} in Cambodia.{{sfn|Stellman|Stellman|Christian|Weber|2003}}<ref name="theatlantic.com">{{cite magazine |last=Dunst |first=Charles |magazine=The Atlantic |date=20 July 2019 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/agent-orange-cambodia-laos-vietnam/591412/ |title=The U.S.'s Toxic Agent Orange Legacy: Washington Has Admitted to the Long-Lasting Effects of Dioxin Use in Vietnam, But Has Largely Sidestepped the Issue in Neighboring Cambodia and Laos |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014202833/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/agent-orange-cambodia-laos-vietnam/591412/ |archive-date=2019-10-14}}</ref><ref name="Agent Orange's Legacy">{{cite news |last1=Ana |first1=Phann |last2=Doyle |first2=Kevin |title=Agent Orange's Legacy |date=March 20, 2004 |work=The Cambodia Daily |url=http://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/agent-oranges-legacy-884/ |access-date=May 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505104932/http://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/agent-oranges-legacy-884/ |archive-date=May 5, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Because Laos and Cambodia were both officially neutral during the Vietnam War, the U.S. attempted to keep secret its military operations in those countries, from the American population and has largely avoided compensating American veterans and CIA personnel stationed in Cambodia and Laos who suffered permanent injuries as a result of exposure to Agent Orange there.<ref name="theatlantic.com"/><ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/world/asia/us-moves-to-address-agent-orange-contamination-in-vietnam.html |title=4 Decades on, U.S. Starts Cleanup of Agent Orange in Vietnam |access-date=May 5, 2014 |location=New York |work=The New York Times |date=August 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415012709/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/world/asia/us-moves-to-address-agent-orange-contamination-in-vietnam.html |archive-date=April 15, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

One noteworthy exception, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, is a claim filed with the CIA by an employee of "a self-insured contractor to the CIA that was no longer in business." The CIA advised the Department of Labor that it "had no objections" to paying the claim and Labor accepted the claim for payment:{{blockquote|Civilian Exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam: GAO-05-371 April 2005.Figure 3: Overview of the Workers' Compensation Claims Process for Contract Employees: " ... Of the 20 claims filed by contract employees [of the united States government], 9 were initially denied by the insurance carriers and 1 was approved for payment. ... The claim that was approved by Labor for payment involved a self-insured contractor to the CIA that was no longer in business. Absent an employer or insurance carrier, the CIA--acting in the role of the employer and the insurance carrier--stated that it "had no objections" to paying the claim. Labor reviewed the claim and accepted it for payment."<ref>[https://www.gao.gov/htext/d05371.html 'Agent Orange: Limited Information Is Available on the Number of Civilians Exposed in Vietnam and Their Workers' Compensation Claims,'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226193512/https://www.gao.gov/htext/d05371.html |date=February 26, 2021}} ''GAO report number GAO-05-371'', April 22, 2005.</ref>}}