Researchers studied populations (described in this chapter) that had potential health effects from exposure to herbicides and TCDD, including production workers in chemical plants, agricultural and forestry workers, pulp and paper mill workers, and residents environmentally exposed in specific areas, such as Times Beach, Missouri Alsea, Oregon and Seveso, Italy. As a result of several major events relating to dioxin exposure, the public became aware of the potential health effects of exposure to dioxin in tandem with the increased concern over possible health effects of exposure to herbicides sprayed in Vietnam. The events and issues surrounding the domestic use of 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and 2,4,5-T (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and occupational exposure to 2,4,5-T and its dioxin contaminant are also addressed in this chapter. This chapter reviews the use of herbicides, the early history of the controversy, the concerns that Vietnam veterans have voiced about health problems they believe are related to exposure to herbicides, the Agent Orange product liability litigation, and the response to concerns of Vietnam veterans and the public by the federal government, state governments, veterans organizations, and others. The controversy is further complicated by public fears over exposure to herbicides and dioxin resulting from domestic herbicide spraying, chronic exposure to dioxin of workers in the chemical industry, accidents in chemical plants that exposed workers, and dioxin released to the environment from several sources. The controversy centers around both the use of herbicides in Vietnam and the purported health problems associated with exposure to herbicides, primarily Agent Orange and its contaminant 2,3,7,8-TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p-dioxin), known scientifically as TCDD and to the general public as dioxin 1 (Young and Reggiani, 1988). The United States has been involved for more than two decades in a controversy over the military use of herbicides in Vietnam during the Vietnam era.
0 kommentar(er)
