Five decades since the fall of Saigon, millions of Vietnamese people are still reeling in the aftermath of Agent Orange, a potent herbicide used by the US forces, in the war. The US military during the peak of the Vietnam War between 1962 and 1971 launched a vast defoliation campaign across southern Vietnam known as Operation Ranch Hand. The chemical ghost used by the forces still haunts generations, leaving many disabled and suffering. What Was Agent Orange? Under Operation Ranch Hand, the US military used nearly 19 million gallons of herbicides over vast stretches of land, about 24% of southern Vietnam, that destroyed both upland, mangrove forests and agricultural land. The goal of the US was to eliminate dense jungle canopy that provided cover to North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, and destroy crops that fed enemy troops. Agent Orange comprised about 60 percent of the total herbicides sprayed and was a 50:50 mix of two chemicals — 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. While its herbicidal effect was relatively short-lived, the production of 2,4,5-T introduced a highly toxic contaminant: 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, or TCDD. How Agent Orange Impacted People And Agriculture The chemical has severely impacted Vietnam’s ecological systems. Five million acres of forests and 500,000 acres of cropland were damaged or destroyed. Nearly half of the nation’s protective mangrove trees, crucial for defending against coastal storms, were lost. Besides, the herbicide leached nutrients from the soil, leaving portions of the Vietnamese landscape barren and highly vulnerable to climate-related impacts. As per the Vietnamese government estimates, four million citizens were exposed to Agent Orange, with around three million people suffering from its health effects. The concentrations in Agent Orange were some 20 times the concentration the manufacturers recommended for killing plants, according to a report by The Aspen Institute, a US-based non-profit organisation. The US stopped using the chemical in 1971 amid fierce international condemnation and safety concerns. This happened as by the late 1960s, several studies had shown that dioxin could cause abnormalities and stillbirths in mice, and reports of human birth defects in sprayed areas of Vietnam had started to emerge. How The Chemical Is Still Haunting Vietnam The Vietnam Red Cross attributes at least 150,000 cases of severe birth defects to Agent Orange exposure. According to studies, children born in contaminated regions have shown higher instances of cleft palates, additional fingers or toes, developmental disorders and cancers. Other health issues among Vietnamese people has been birth defects such as spina bifida (when a baby’s spine and spinal cord do not develop properly), cardiovascular defects, hip dislocations and hypospadias (where the opening of the urethra is not at the tip of the penis). In the early 2000s, the Red Cross of Vietnam estimated that at least 150,000 Vietnamese children were born with serious birth defects. Between 2.6 and 3.8 million US service members were exposed to Agent Orange, and research shows that these veterans face significantly higher risks for various cancers compared to those not deployed to Vietnam. Dioxin has a half-life of 11 to 15 years in the human body, and in buried or submerged environments, such as river sediments, it can persist for over 100 years. It has been found in the blood and breast milk of exposed populations even decades after the war. Vietnam contends that the impact can span multiple generations, affecting children, grandchildren and potentially great-grandchildren of those originally exposed. What Vietnamese Govt Is Doing To Clear The Effects Many of the most toxic areas, including former US military bases like Da Nang and Bien Hoa, were fenced off for public safety. Yet the US provided little help. From the mid-2000s onwards, the US began participating in remediation projects in Vietnam. Since then, over $155 million has been allocated to support people with disabilities in Agent Orange-contaminated zones and to remove unexploded ordnance. One of the largest clean-up initiatives took place at the Da Nang airbase, where Agent Orange had been stored and handled during the war. A $110 million project was completed in 2018, but an area equivalent to ten soccer fields still remains contaminated, reported AP. Another major site, the Bien Hoa airbase, saw the launch of a 10-year clean-up project in 2020 aimed at removing 500,000 cubic meters of dioxin-contaminated soil — enough to fill approximately 40,000 trucks. This effort was briefly halted in March but has since resumed. US-Vietnam Ties Affected The US turned away from taking any responsibility for the repercussions of the Vietnam War. The ties were only restored in 1995, and it was not until 2006 that the two countries began formal cooperation on Agent Orange issues. This laid the groundwork for expanding bilateral relations, culminating in 2023 when Vietnam elevated the US to its highest diplomatic designation — comprehensive strategic partner. There are concerns in Vietnam that Washington may abandon the Agent Orange clean-up as President Donald Trump pares down foreign funding. Meanwhile, research into the long-term health effects of dioxin exposure remains insufficient.