Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure (2011) / Chapter Skim
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1 INTRODUCTION
1 INTRODUCTION
Pages 15-28
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reports and other information, the VA has recognized 14 health outcomes as associated with Agent Orange and other herbicide exposure and thus eligible for a presumption of 15
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The IOM issued its first VAO report in 1994; the latest report, Veterans and Agent Orange, Update 2008, was published in 2009. Before 1997, Vietnam veterans were eligible for a presumption of exposure to any of four herbicides used in Vietnam -- 2,4dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (Agent Purple, Agent Orange, and Agent White)
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From page 17... ...
Their concerns are related to potential exposure not only to the herbicides themselves but to the TCDD contaminant present in Agent Orange. Recent publications, such as that of an Australian study of potential TCDD enrichment of potable water onboard Royal Australian Navy ships as a result of the ships' water-distillation process, have prompted additional concerns regarding exposure of Blue Water Navy veterans to herbiciderelated TCDD (Muller et al., 2002)
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From page 18... ...
(IOM, 2009) COMMITTEE'S CHARGE The growing concern of Blue Water Navy veterans that they were exposed to Agent Orange and TCDD during their service during the Vietnam War, possibly as a result of drinking contaminated water, prompted the VA to task the IOM with establishing a committee to conduct a study and prepare a report on whether the Vietnam veterans in the Blue Water Navy experienced a comparable range of exposures to herbicides and their contaminants (focus on dioxin)
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. COMMITTEE'S APPROACH TO ITS CHARGE The committee was tasked with describing possible routes of exposure of Blue Water Navy personnel during the Vietnam War to herbicides, particularly Agent Orange, and their contaminants, specifically TCDD, and compare those exposures with ground troops in Vietnam.
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and potential receptors (in this case, ground troops and Brown Water Navy and Blue Water Navy populations)
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Blue Water Navy Operations and Locations An understanding of where and how the Blue Water Navy operated was considered to be important in assessing whether veterans had any potential for exposure to Agent Orange and TCDD. Unlike the previous VAO committees, which did not distinguish among Vietnam veteran
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From page 22... ...
Such information would assist the committee in comparing Agent Orange and TCDD exposures potentially experienced by ground troops, Brown Water Navy veterans, and Blue Water Navy veterans. The committee also sought information that would help it to coordinate ship locations with Ranch Hand spray missions and fate and transport data on TCDD to establish what, if any, Blue Water Navy ships may have had a potential for TCDD exposure.
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Information Sources To accomplish the tasks laid out in the conceptual approach, the committee used a multitude of data sources and methods to determine what work had been done on the exposure of Vietnam veterans to TCDD and what studies had been undertaken to assess the health effects associated with TCDD exposure. What sets the present effort apart from other efforts to assess the health of Vietnam veterans is the need to determine whether Blue Water Navy Vietnam veterans experienced different exposures and thus different health risks compared to other Vietnam veterans.
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From page 24... ...
Other studies in the published literature that were retrieved included studies of the fate and transport of Agent Orange and TCDD in the environment and studies that assessed the potential exposure of Vietnam veterans to these chemicals. Although not always peer-reviewed, books that discussed those subjects were also retrieved, such as a 2009 book by Alvin Young on the use, disposition, and fate of the tactical herbicides used in the Vietnam War; veterans' memoirs and accounts of the war to help the committee to understand the day-to-day activities of the men and women who served during the war; and scholarly histories of Navy operations during the war, including books that described Navy ships and their classes and specifications.
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From page 25... ...
These included government documents from the VA and the Navy; other Navy documents, such as deck logs and maps; and reports from the Australian government about Australian Vietnam veterans. Several Web sites also provided useful compendiums of information, such as the site maintained by the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association (http://www.bluewaternavy.org/)
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From page 26... ...
that resulted in Blue Water Navy Vietnam veterans no longer being presumed to have had herbicide exposure during the war. The VA is reviewing deck logs case by case to classify ships that entered inland waters as Brown Water Navy ships and would thus be eligible for the presumption of herbicide exposure.
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From page 27... ...
Chapter 5 addresses the committee's task of comparing exposure of ground troops with Navy personnel on ships and explores the mechanisms by which these military personnel may have been exposed to Agent Orange. The comparative risks of long-term health effects in ground troops, Blue Water Navy veterans, and other veterans who served during the war but were not deployed to Vietnam are presented in Chapter 6.
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From page 28... ...
2002. Examination of the potential exposure of Royal Australian Navy (RAN)
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