Agent Orange

During the Vietnam War, we used Agent Orange as a defoliant of jungle areas to make it easier for us to identify opposing troop movements. Turns out, Agent Orange primarily consists of dioxin. A strong carcinogen probably worse than DDT in its capacity for long term damage to mammals including man. Dioxin does not break down in the environment but is a bioaccumulator. It accumulates up the food chain and increases in concentration as it travels. Much like mercury or PCB's.

Well, since the vietnamese killed so many of their own following the 1975 fall, they now have decided all their birth defects and other health issues are associated only with dioxin. Well, it can't possibly be poor water quality, contaminated water, malaria, poor diet, etc. It must therefore be 100% attributable to the dioxin in their environment left over from the war. Well, dioxin is a bad actor, but is it solely responsible? Doubtful.

You've got to evaluate the whole picture. Perchlorates in the water is bad. Hydrocarbons in the water is bad. There is probably alot of both left over from the war and was used by all sides in the war. Both can have similar effects as dioxin. But hydrocarbons and perchlorates do not bioaccumulate. Even though I don't like admitting it, but the dioxins are probably a big reason for the healthcare crisis in Vietnam. Should we pay for it? No way. It was a war.