Dioxin contamination at Vietnam airport worse than thought

http://tuoitrenews.vn/features/18652/dioxin-contamination-at-vietnam-airport-worse-than-thought
Agent Orange/Dioxin contamination at Bien Hoa airport in the southern province of Dong Nai, formerly a major military airbase of the U.S. Army, is even worse than the alarming rate confirmed before.
More seriously, the toxic chemical was found flowing toward the Dong Nai River, just hundreds of meters from the hot spot, and in densely populated areas located alongside the river and airport.
Dozens of hectares, including five to seven hectares of ponds and lakes, at the airport have been found with dangerously high concentrations of dioxin, a pollutant that inflicts great damage on human health, causing cancer together with reproductive and developmental problems, and increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and immune malfunction.
28 new sites contaminated
Apart from 13 sites at Bien Hoa airport confirmed of Agent Orange/Dioxin contamination, Vietnam has recently unearthed 28 other sites covering dozens of hectares at the facility seriously polluted with the toxic chemical.
The 28 new sites probed at the airport were all confirmed to be contaminated with Agent Orange/Dioxin, according to the National Steering Committee on Tackling Consequences of Toxic Chemicals, or Committee 33, the body under the Vietnamese government in charge of coping with the consequences of toxic chemicals used by the U.S. during the war in Vietnam.
Of the 28 new sites, sixteen were identified as seriously polluted, as they surpassed the rate of 8,000 parts per trillion (ppt), Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper said in an article published on March 23.
READ MORE: http://tuoitrenews.vn/features/18652/dioxin-contamination-at-vietnam-airport-worse-than-thought