and as I mentioned he used Agent Orange which had horrible effects on Vietnamese agriculture and people.
In the 1960s, that was just code for the mix of two OTC weedkillers in the USA. There were many other Agents used: Green, Pink, Purple, Blue, White, Orange, Orange II, Orange III, and Super Orange.
Once Operation Ranch Hand began in
1962, around 20 million gallons were sprayed over South Vietnam when Ranch Hand Missions were ended in 1971.
The Motto of that operation was
'Only You can prevent a Forest'
2,4,5-T (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid) is the chemical which received notoriety after it was extensively used as a defoliant in the Vietnam war. It is closely related to a number of other herbicides, such as 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), which are plant growth stimulants which cannot be metabolised by plants. Therefore if they are applied in high concentrations they cause lethal, uncontrollable and grossly distorted growth. 2,4-D was the first hormone herbicides and the first really selective weedkillers, which killed weeds but did not harm other plants or animals. 2,4-D is still extensively used in the USA.
2,4-D .....................................2,4,5-T
The differences from 2,4-D are shown in red
Agent Orange
Whereas 2,4-D have been used extensively all over the world for the past 50 years without any problems, their chemically similar derivative, 2,4,5-T has been surrounded with controversy. This is because it was widely used as a defoliant by the USA in the Vietnam war in the 1960s, and combined with 2,4-D, this spray was named Agent Orange. 2,4,5-T is extremely effective as a defoliant. It has great advantages in that is has low toxicity to animals and is cheap to manufacture.(Note:2,4,5-T was restricted use in 1970, and Banned in 1985)
It is the second step in the reaction that has caused all the problems, since the temperature has to be carefully controlled. If it rises above 160°C a side-reaction between two of the sodium intermediates occurs producing the deadly tetrachlorodioxin.
Although the 2,4,5-T molecule itself was non-toxic, the small quantities of the dioxin impurities caused many problems.
That dioxin from sloppy manufacturing was the problem to mammals