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The Issue That Wont Go Away
"TCDD (dioxin) has been shown to be extremely toxic to a number of
animal species. Mortality does not occur immediately.it appears that
the animals' environment suddenly becomes toxic to them."
Casarett and Doull's Toxicology, 1996
From 1962 to 1970, the US military sprayed 72 million liters of
herbicides, mostly Agent Orange, in Vietnam. Over one million
Vietnamese were exposed to the spraying, as well as over 100,000
Americans and allied troops. Dr. James Clary, a scientist at the
Chemical Weapons Branch, Eglin Air Force Base, who designed the
herbicide spray tank and wrote a 1979 report on Operation Ranch Hand
(the name of the spraying program), told Senator Daschle in 1988,
"When we (military scientists) initiated the herbicide program in the
1960s, we were aware of the potential for damage due to dioxin
contamination in the herbicide. We were even aware that the 'military'
formulation had a higher dioxin concentration than the 'civilian'
version due to the lower cost and speed of manufacture. However,
because the material was to be used on the 'enemy,' none of us were
overly concerned. We never considered a scenario in which our own
personnel would become contaminated with the herbicide."
quoted by Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, 1990
What Did We Know About Dioxin, and When Did We Know It?
The first reported industrial dioxin poisoning occurred in Nitro, West
Virginia in 1949. The exposed workers complained of rash, nausea,
headaches, muscle aches, fatigue and emotional instability. A 1953
accident elsewhere resulted in peripheral neuropathies.
A 1969 report commissioned by the USDA found Agent Orange showed a
"significant potential to increase birth defects." The same year, the
NIH confirmed that it caused malformations and stillbirths in mice. In
1970, the US Surgeon General warned it might be hazardous to "our
health." The same day, the Secretaries of the Departments of
Agriculture, the Interior, and HEW jointly announced the suspension of
its use around lakes, recreation areas, homes and crops intended for
human consumption. DOD simultaneously announced its suspension of all
uses of Agent Orange.
When dioxin contaminated material spread on a Missouri farm in 1971,
hundreds of birds, 11 cats, 4 dogs and 43 horses died.
In 1978 the EPA suspended spraying Agent Orange in national forests,
due to increases in miscarriages in women living near forests that had
been sprayed.
A 1979 study published in the JAMA by Bogen et al looked at 78 Vietnam
veterans who reported Agent Orange exposures. Eighty percent reported
extreme fatigue. Over 60% had peripheral neuropathies, 73% had
depression, and 8% had attempted suicide. Forty-five per cent reported
violent rages. Sudden lapses of memory were seen in 21%.
A 1981 study by Pazderova et al. found one half of 80 exposed workers
had metabolic disturbances, 23% peripheral neuropathies, and the
majority, psychiatric changes, primarily depression and fatigue.
In 1979, 47 railroad workers were exposed to PCBs including dioxin in
Missouri when cleaning up a spillage from a damaged tank car that had
been filled with these chemicals. All were followed medically for six
years. Their initial complaints included fatigue and muscle aches. Two
committed suicide. Careful evaluations at Rush-Presbyterian Hospital,
in Chicago, confirmed peripheral neuropathies (in 96%), depression
(69%), tremors (78%), abnormal fatigue (91%), and muscle aches or
cramp (51%). Half had cognitive problems, including problems with
attention and concentration (50%) and slowed reaction times.
These studies are all consistent with each other, and describe a very
significant, multi-system illness affecting all parts of the nervous
system, and causing fatigue and muscle aches. Some of the studies
documented additional organ dysfunction. This syndrome could be very
disabling.
What Did It Take to Forget What We Knew?
By 1983, 9170 veterans had filed claims for disabilities that they
said were caused by Agent Orange. The VA denied compensation to 7709,
saying that a facial rash was the only disease associated with
exposure.
Congress passed the Veterans' Dioxin and Radiation Exposure
Compensation Standards Act of 1984 in response. It required the VA to
appoint a 'Veterans' Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards' to
review the literature on dioxin and submit recommendations to the head
of the VA.
According to Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, "The VA.directly contradicted its
own established practice, promulgating instead the more stringent
requirement that compensation depends on establishing a cause and
effect relationship," improperly denying the bulk of the claims.
Four groups of impartial scientists were asked by Zumwalt to review
the Advisory Committee transcripts. Their comments are telling, and
include the following:
"The work of the Advisory Committee.has little or no scientific
merit."
".an inadequate process is being used to evaluate scientific
publications for use in public policy."
".less than objective."
Unfortunately, the flawed scientific reviews didn't end with the VA
committee. The CDC was brought in to add weight to the bogus analysis
of dioxin's effects. After 4 years and $63 million in federal funds,
CDC concluded that an Agent Orange study could not be done based on
military records, and furthermore concluded, without data, that
veterans were never exposed to harmful doses of Agent Orange!
When the CDC's protocols were examined, however, it was found that
three changes had been made to its study in 1985, in an apparent
attempt to dilute any negative effect that might be found. Congress
learned in 1986 that administration officials, not scientists, had
forestalled CDC research on the effects of dioxin.
In 1990, Senator Daschle disclosed additional political interference
in the Air Force's Ranch Hand study of Agent Orange effects. A 1984
draft report's conclusion was substantially altered, and the study was
described as "reassuring."
The Ranch Hand study is still ongoing, despite new allegations of
fraudulent methodologies coming to light every few years. It will cost
taxpayers over $100 million.
Monsanto, a manufacturer of Agent Orange, was happy to duplicate the
methods of federally funded studies. By omitting five deaths in the
exposed group and putting four exposed workers in the control group,
they were able to hide a 65% higher death rate in the workers exposed
at the Nitro plant. Another study of workers exposed in 1953 at a BASF
plant was also shown to be falsified, as all the data had been
supplied by the BASF company.
Thanks to the efforts of Admiral Zumwalt, who as the commanding Navy
Admiral in Vietnam was responsible for some of the spraying, and whose
son died from lymphoma, probably as a result of dioxin exposure, many
more illnesses were finally linked to Agent Orange, and have been made
service-connectable over the past decade.
But Zumwalt did not succeed at clearing the air regarding dioxin's
actual toxicity, nor did he stop further scientific shenanigans
carried out by government and industry to hide the toxic effects of
other products, especially those to which our servicemen and women are
exposed.
In April 2000, the National Institute for Environmental Health
Sciences tried to release a report listing dioxin as a carcinogen, but
it was blocked by a lawsuit filed by an industry group. NIEHS had
tried to list dioxin as a carcinogen in 1991, but was not allowed to
do so then. John Bucher, deputy director of the NIEHS, says, "Dioxin
tends to increase the likelihood of all types of cancers" while
industry representatives continue to claim there is insufficient
evidence to link dioxin to health problems.
Ellen Silbergeld, a University of Maryland toxicologist, responded, "I
think the public should be mad as hell about the [dioxin review]
process and the way it's been abused."
Agent Orange: 2002
US and Vietnamese government scientists and international experts met
last week in Hanoi to discuss the effects of the "last significant
ghost" of the Vietnam War: Agent Orange.
Vietnam wants US help performing research and obtaining compensation.
It blames Agent Orange for tens of thousands of birth defects. The US
and Vietnam did sign an agreement during the meeting to carry out
joint research studies. But US ambassador Raymond Burghardt noted that
developing research studies "that are definitive and address the
underlying causes of disease in Vietnam" will be a "difficult task."
Reporting on the conference, Reuters pointed out, "Observers say
conclusive research could have far-reaching and expensive consequences
in terms of compensation claims for the US and Agent Orange makers,
Dow Chemical and Monsanto."
However, the US seems to think it has an ace in the hole. The US
embassy made clear, at the time of the conference, that "US-Vietnam
relations were normalized in 1995 after Vietnam dropped claims of war
reparations/compensation. At the time of normalization, neither
compensation nor reparations were granted or contemplated for the
future."
And, anyway, the US government has a fallback position. "Washington
argues there is no hard evidence showing the defoliant caused specific
illness," Reuters reported last week. And US government scientists
chimed in that any linkages to birth defects "would take many more
years to prove."
The well-documented story of dioxin and scientific perfidy provide a
guidepost for how to assess government-sponsored research, advisory
committees, and regulatory decisions that impact on the health effects
of toxic exposures, especially when the government may be liable for
damages.
"Those Who Cannot Remember the Past Are Condemned to Repeat It"
--George Santayana
Recommended Reading
Zumwalt ER. Report to the Secretary of the Department of Veterans'
Affairs on the association between adverse health effects and exposure
to Agent Orange. DVA Report, 1990.
Echobichon DJ. Toxic Effects of Pesticides, in Casarett and Doull's
Toxicology. Klaassen CD ed, McGraw-Hill, NY. 1996.
Klawans HL et al. Neurologic problems following exposure to TCDD,
dioxin. In Neurotoxins and their pharmacological implications, ed.
Jenner P, 1987. Raven Press, NY.
Welch, Craig. Dioxin debate growing hotter. Seattle Times May 29, 2000
Agent Orange help needed now, Vietnam Red Cross says. Reuters, March
5, 2002.
Brunnstrom, David. Hanoi meeting probes "last ghost" of Vietnam War.
Reuters, March 3, 2002.
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