Toxic byproducts of Agent Orange continue to pollute Vietnam environment

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Date: February 27, 2019

Source: University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Summary: During the Vietnam War, United States aircraft sprayed more than 20 million gallons of herbicides, including dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange, on the country's rain forests, wetlands, and croplands. A new article documents the environmental legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam, including hotspots where dioxin continues to enter the food supply.

"Existing Agent Orange and dioxin research is primarily medical in nature, focusing on the details of human exposure primarily through skin contact and long-term health effects on U.S. soldiers," says Ken Olson, professor emeritus in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at U of I and co-author on the article. "In this paper, we examine the short and long-term environmental effects on the Vietnamese natural resource base and how persistence of dioxin continues to affect soils, water, sediment, fish, aquatic species, the food supply, and Vietnamese health."

Olson and co-author Lois Wright Morton of Iowa State University explain that Agent Orange was a combination of two herbicides, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, neither of which persist longer than a few days or weeks in the environment when exposed to sunlight. However, during production of Agent Orange, a toxic byproduct formed: dioxin TCDD, the most toxic of the dioxin family of chemicals. Once dioxin TCDD gets into the environment, Olson and Wright Morton say, it can stick around for decades or even centuries. That's what happened in the Vietnam landscape.

Active ingredient in Roundup weed killer found in popular beers and wine, researchers say

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Traces of an ingredient found in weed killers have been discovered in popular beers and wine, according to a study by U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG).

The pesticide and herbicide glyphosate, a key ingredient in Roundup, was found in 19 of the 20 wines and beers tested, even in organic brands.

Though the levels of glyphosate in the drinks tested aren’t necessarily dangerous, the World Health Organization said in a 2015 report that the pesticide is “probably carcinogenic to humans." In 2017, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment announced glyphosate “would be added to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer.”

But many health professionals have urged consumers not to panic and encourage more thorough research into the matter before cutting out any of these popular foods or drinks.

Five wine brands including Beringer, Barefoot and Sutter Home and 15 beer brands including Guinness, Budweiser, Coors, Samuel Adams and Miller Lite were tested in the study.

AGENT ORANGE TOWN HALL MEETING SCHEDULE

We update our meetings regularly on the Town Hall Meeting Calendar:

https://vva.org/AOTownHall.html

March 23, 2019

Portland, Oregon

Contact: Steve Carr

503-558-2970

vva392@outlook.com

April 13, 2019

Waverly, Iowa

Contact: Lyman and Cindy Campbell 319-230-4375

Maynard Kaderlik 507-581-6402

April 26 - 27, 2019

Deadwood, South Dakota

Contact: Jack Dean 605-393-0444

Martin Anderson 605-645-0055

Maynard Kaderlik 507-581-6402

Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water Leave Military Families Reeling

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FOUNTAIN, Colo. — When Army Staff Sgt. Samuel Fortune returned from Iraq, his body battered by war, he assumed he’d be safe.

Then the people around him began to get sick. His neighbors, all living near five military bases, complained of tumors, thyroid problems and debilitating fatigue. Soon, the Colorado health department announced an unusually high number of kidney cancers in the region. Then Mr. Fortune’s wife fell ill.

The military, it turned out, had been leaching toxic chemicals into the water for decades.

Mr. Fortune felt “stabbed in the back,” he said. “We give our lives and our bodies for our country, and our government does not live up to their end of the deal.”

That was 2016. Since then, the Defense Department has admitted that it allowed a firefighting foam to slip into at least 55 drinking water systems at military bases around the globe, sometimes for generations. This exposed tens of thousands of Americans, possibly many more, to per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of man-made chemicals known as PFAS that have been linked to cancers, immune suppression and other serious health problems.

Though the presence of the chemicals has been known for years, an announcement last week from the Environmental Protection Agency for the first time promised regulatory action, a significant acknowledgment of the startling scope of the problem that drew outrage from veterans and others living in contaminated communities.

Acting administrator Andrew Wheeler said that the agency would begin the process of potentially limiting the presence of two of the compounds in drinking water, calling this a “pivotal moment in the history of the agency.”

PARKINSON'S DISEASE RESOURCES

PARKINSON'S DISEASE HANDBOOK

New Jersey Said 10 Years Ago It Would Rank Its Most Contaminated Sites. It Never Did.

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The rankings were supposed to ensure that the most dangerous sites remained a priority even as the state gave private companies a bigger role in cleanups. Today, there are nearly 14,000 contamination sites across New Jersey and still no sign of the mandated rankings.

For decades, New Jersey’s chemical plants, textile mills and metal factories helped power America.

That came at a price.

Byproducts like dioxin from the manufacture of the herbicide Agent Orange fouled the Passaic River, making fish and crab toxic. Dye and paint companies dumped waste in illegal landfills in Toms River, polluting the groundwater for decades. Carcinogenic vapors migrated to homes from Pompton Lakes factories making war ammunition and nonstick pans.

New Jersey eventually passed some of the strongest environmental laws in the country, including the precursor to the federal Superfund law, and the state has made strides in cleaning up contamination.

But don’t ask what the state’s priorities are.

A decade after legislators mandated that the Department of Environmental Protection rank every contaminated site in order of urgency and severity, the agency has yet to act.

Military Veterans Advocacy: Agent Orange effects go beyond Vietnam

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While a battle rages over whether the VA should provide benefits to Blue Water Navy vets who served off the coast of Vietnam and were effected by Agent Orange, another fight over the effects of the chemical exfoliant is centered on the U.S. territory of

Guam. The exposure to service members stationed on the tiny Pacific island, which is home to large Navy and Air Force installations, is a growing concern to some veterans groups.

While Guam isn't the first place the public thinks of in regards to Agent Orange exposure, the chemical was used on the island, and stored there, for many years. Recent efforts by Congress to address the issue have failed, including a 2017 effort led by Florida Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL). But according to retired Air Force Colonel Rob Maness, Chief of Staff for Military Veterans Advocacy (MVA),  recent tests have shown the dioxin contamination levels found on the island are significant and can't be pushed aside.

MVA says, much like the Blue Water Navy issue, the VA is pushing back on providing benefits to those who were affected, but Maness says the advocacy group is pushing for new legislation that will take aim at the problem of toxic exposure on Guam. It's a personal matter to the retired Colonel, who spent six months at Guam's Andersen Air Force Base in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and believes his unit may have been effected by the high dioxin levels.

Sailors pitch in to build classrooms

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Sailors of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) are being hailed for their humanitarian efforts in Vietnam last fall that included the revitalization of a centre for Agent Orange victims.

On Sept. 27, 2018, 24 sailors from HMCS Calgary and Naval Replenishment Unit (NRU) Asterix got the ball rolling on an extensive revitalization project at Social Welfare Centre No. 3 for Agent Orange and Disadvantaged Children. The work included cleaning, painting, providing new furniture and toys, and teaching equipment for the centre located in Vietnam’s coastal city of Da Nang.

Colonel Jeff Drummond, Canadian Defence Attaché Singapore/Cambodia/Vietnam, facilitated the port visit to Da Nang by HMCS Calgary and Asterix, who were at the time deployed on Operation Projection. He acted as an intermediary between the sailors and centre to determine the scope and tasking of the project. Upon further discussion with the Director, Col Drummond realized there was more work to do: build additional classrooms for the children.

He had a conversation with Calgary’s Operation Chief, Chief Petty Officer Second Class Line Laurendeau that resulted in a quick solution. CPO2 Laurendeau, who supervised the ship’s outreach programs, offered up money to pay for supplies to build the classrooms from the ship’s Boomer’s Legacy funds. She then met with the Director and staff and helped them purchase the required building materials, while the centre arranged for contractors to perform the work.

In January, the centre held an inauguration ceremony for the new classrooms, which was attended by school officials, the Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Deborah Paul and embassy staff members. A plaque above the entrance to the classrooms unveiled at the ceremony pays tribute to sailors of the RCN and Boomers Legacy.

Vietnam to relocate 300 residents near US air base for dioxin cleanup

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75 families living near the Bien Hoa military airport, former American airbase and dioxin hotspot, will be resettled for cleanup work.

Dong Nai Province, where the dioxin hotspot is located, is expected to implement the relocation plan involving 300 people this summer.

"We have got the resettlement area ready and will start moving local households in June," said Vo Van Chanh, the province’s deputy chairman.

The dioxin-infected land will be transferred to those in charge of the cleaning work early next year, he said.

Visiting the site Friday, Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich said Vietnam should call for more financial aid and boost the cleaning process.

Just 30 km (around 20 miles) from Ho Chi Minh City, Bien Hoa airport was a U.S. air force base during the Vietnam War (1955-1975).

The airport is believed to be the largest dioxin hotspot in Vietnam. Studies have found that more than 500,000 cubic meters of land at the airport, which Vietnam uses for military purposes, needs to be detoxified.

Parkinson's Researchers, Michael J. Fox Foundation Propose New Roadmap for Trials

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A new roadmap for preclinical and clinical trials investigating compounds to treat and prevent Parkinson’s disease was proposed by a team of international academic and industry researchers, the Alpha-Synuclein Clinical Path Working Group, in conjunction with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

The article, “A Proposed Roadmap for Parkinson’s Disease Proof of Concept Clinical Trials Investigating Compounds Targeting Alpha-Synuclein,” was published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.

A global effort is underway to find interventional molecules that slow or stop Parkinson’s progression. These potential therapeutics focus on targeting the protein alpha-synuclein, a component of abnormal clumps — Lewy bodies — that are the pathological hallmark of Parkinson’s disease.

“With alpha-synuclein undoubtedly playing some role in Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis, and there being such a diverse portfolio of experimental therapies that target the protein, one can be optimistic and hope that one of the approaches will eventually be successful in slowing disease progression,” Patrik Brundin, MD, PhD, from the Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, said in a press release.

In 2017, The Michael J. Fox Foundation convened the Alpha-Synuclein Clinical Path Working Group, made up of leaders in Parkinson’s research from academia and industry. This international group set out to expedite the discovery and development of therapeutics with recommendations on research and development for alpha-synuclein targeting therapies.

Medical Marijuana and Its Use Focus of March Meeting Set by Parkinson’s Foundation

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With the goal of establishing a consensus on medical marijuana use by Parkinson’s patients — which a recent survey co-sponsored by the Parkinson’s Foundation put at 80 percent — the group will host its first conference focused on this compound and the disease.

Set for March 6-7 in Denver, the invitation-only meeting will include a mix of experts from academia, healthcare, government, and the private sector to consider the implications and make recommendations for the use of medical marijuana by patients. Parkinson’s advocates, who are patients, will also attend.

“Now that medical marijuana is legal in 33 states and in many other countries, people are equating access to efficacy,”  James Beck, the Foundation’s chief scientific officer, said in a news release. “It is imperative that we address the clinical implications of medical marijuana use among people with PD [Parkinson’s disease].”

Specifically, attendees will discuss both the perceived benefits and hazards of marijuana use in treating Parkinson’s symptoms, in addition to safety issues, potential delivery means, possible sanction as a therapeutic, and areas for more scientific investigation.

Following the meeting, the Foundation will issue suggested practices and highlight areas where more research is needed.

“Having worked as a clinician for the past decade in Colorado, a state at the forefront of medical marijuana use, it is clear that people with PD and their families are intensely interested in the potential of marijuana and cannabinoids in helping manage symptoms and other aspects of their disease,” said Benzi Kluger, associate professor of University of Colorado Hospital and a conference co-chair.

“To date, there is more hype than actual data to provide meaningful clinical information to patients with PD. There is a critical need to analyze existing data on medical marijuana and to set priorities for future research.”

HR 566 - ‘‘Agent Orange Exposure Fairness Act’’ of 2019