Individuals exposed to dioxin face a 14-fold higher risk of having children with birth defects compared to those not affected by this toxic substance… This information was shared during a recent seminar organized by Steering Committee 33 (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) regarding the consequences of Agent Orange.
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| Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese children affected by Agent Orange (Photo: CTV) |
Recently, the Military Medical Academy conducted a study involving 47,893 veterans and their families, revealing that the rate of children with multiple birth defects due to chemical/dioxin exposure is as high as 16.14%; the rate of children of veterans with a history of dioxin exposure suffering from congenital defects is 2.95%; and the rate for grandchildren of veterans exposed to dioxin is 2.69%.
According to Professor Nguyễn Ngọc Phượng and the research team from Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, individuals exposed to dioxin have a 14 times higher risk of having children with defects compared to those not affected by this toxin.
Experimental results indicate that even a trace amount of dioxin can cause cancer and reproductive disorders in plants and animals. During the 10 years of war, the U.S. military sprayed approximately 80 million liters of toxic chemicals over southern Vietnam, the majority of which was Agent Orange.
To date, this chemical exposure has impacted around 3 million Vietnamese people affected by chemical/dioxin toxins, including hundreds of thousands of children born with congenital defects.
Kiều Minh
