Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure (2011) / Chapter Skim
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3 SELECTED CHEMICALS USED DURING THE VIETNAM WAR
3 SELECTED CHEMICALS USED DURING THE VIETNAM WAR
Pages 47-60
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From page 47... ...
Second, some other chemicals used abundantly by the US military during the war -- including such nontactical pesticides as malathion, and jet and diesel fuels -- are described. Finally, Blue Water Navy and Brown Water Navy personnel were exposed to many chemicals that were needed to operate and maintain their ships.
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From page 48... ...
Agent Orange and Agent White were used against broadleaf plants and woody shrubs and trees, including mangroves. Agent Blue was effective against grasses and grains, such as rice (Young, 2009)
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From page 49... ...
Blue Water Navy and Coast Guard vessels were not used to transport herbicides from the United States to the Republic of Vietnam (Baldini, 2009)
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From page 50... ...
Extensive spraying was also conducted in the Mekong River delta area around the coastal mangrove swamps, also with the goal of reducing protective cover for the enemy. Operation Ranch Hand peaked in 1967, when 1.7 million acres of Vietnam and Laos were sprayed, 85% for defoliation and 15% for crop destruction.
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From page 51... ...
. The HERBS file for Operation Ranch Hand contains the most comprehensive data on the herbicide missions flown in Vietnam, including flight date, flight path, turning points and markers for activation and deactivation of spray apparatus, herbicide used, and aircraft type.
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From page 52... ...
Unlike the C-123s used for herbicide spraying, the Bug Birds flew alone without escort aircraft and were not camouflaged. Malathion was stored at Bien Hoa Air Base, Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, and Da Nang Air Base.
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From page 53... ...
The committee heard reports that many of Navy personnel aboard aircraft carriers were frequently sprayed with jet fuel. Naval tankers delivered large amounts of diesel fuel to ground forces.
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From page 54... ...
However, in practice, personnel aboard naval vessels were exposed to a complex mixture of environmental contaminants. Those exposures could occur concurrently or sequentially.
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From page 55... ...
(2003) assessed PCB exposures on Navy surface ships and submarines, some dating to the Vietnam War.
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From page 56... ...
for naval surface ships include a wide array of occupations, from aerographer and construction electrician to hull maintenance technician, machinist's mate, and yeoman. However, it is difficult to identify all the chemicals to which a person with a given NEC might be exposed during occupational activity; furthermore, there is the possibility that other naval personnel may inadvertently be exposed to some chemicals even if they are not working directly with them, mainly because of the ventilation system onboard Navy ships.
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From page 57... ...
Before the inception of specific Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or EPA inspections, the naval medical department conducted comparable inspections; a ship the size of an aircraft carrier has a fully complemented medical department, including environmental-health personnel, who in earlier days provided comparable industrial-hygiene support.
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From page 58... ...
2001. US Army Chemical Corps Vietnam Veterans Health Study: Preliminary results.
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From page 59... ...
2004a. Assessing possible exposures of ground troops to Agent Orange during the Vietnam war: The use of contemporary military records.
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