Characterizing Exposure of Veterans to Agent Orange and Other Herbicides Used in Vietnam: Final Report (2003)

Summary: From 1962 t o1971, US military forces sprayed over 19 million gallons of herbicides over Vietnam to strip the thick jungle canopy that helped conceal enemy forces, to destroy crops that enemy forces might depend on, and to clear tall grass and bushes from around the perimeters of US base camps. After a report by the National Institutes of Health concluded there might be some risks to health from contaminants in one of the herbicides, all spraying was stopped in Vietnam in 1971. A lack of information had previously made it difficult to assess the effects of herbicide spraying on the health of Vietnam veterans. This report contains findings on how reconstruction of troop movements could be used to more effectively assess the wartime herbicide exposure of Vietnam veterans.