Date: June 25, 1982 Creator: Smith, Pamela W. Description: From
1962 to 1971, the United States Air Force (USAF) sprayed various
herbicide mixtures (chemicals that kill plants) in South
Vietnam. The purpose of the spraying was to defoliate jungle
growth to deprive the Communist forces of ground cover, and to
destroy enemy crops to restrict food supplies. The most
extensively used of these herbicide mixtures was known as Agent
Orange, a 50:50 mix of two common herbicides called 1,4,5-T and
2,4-D (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and
2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). The third chemical present in
the mixture in small amounts was TCDD, an inevitable by-product
of the manufacture of 2,4,5-T. This chemical, called
tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin or simply "dioxin," is highly
toxic to laboratory animals when administered in its pure form.
CRS has been unable to locate any report of a human death from
exposure to pure TCDD. This report discusses the human health
effects that have occurred from exposure to TCDD, as we