Document Library
Below are a number of documents related to the study of Agent Orange and Pancreatic Cancer
Thanks to Larry Domrese for providing them.
In 1989 Admiral Zumwalt was appointed to a task force to "determining whether it is at least as likely as not that there is a statistical association between exposure to Agent Orange and a specific adverse health effect."
"I conclude that there is adequate evidence for the Secretary to reasonably conclude that it is at least as likely as not that there is a relationship between exposure to Agent Orange and the following health problems: non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chloracne and other skin disorders, lip cancer, bone cancer, soft tissue sarcoma, birth defects, skin cancer, porphyria cutanea tarda and other liver disorders, Hodgkin's disease, hematopoietic diseases, multiple myeloma, neurological defects, auto-immune diseases and disorders, leukemia, lung cancer, kidney cancer, malignant melanoma, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, nasal/pharyngeal/esophageal cancers, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, liver cancer, brain cancer, psychosocial effects and gastrointestinal diseases."
The VA does not accept the results of this study. They are failing to support veterans.
Study of Nurses/women that served in Vietman
In response to concerns of women veterans regarding the long-term health effects of military service in Vietnam, the Department of Veterans Affairs has been conducting a retrospective cohort mortality study of women Vietnam veterans. Military records were used to identify approximately 4600 women who served in Vietnam between July 4, 1965, and March 28, 1973, and a comparison cohort of nearly 5300 women who served during the same time frame but not in Southeast Asia or the Pacific theater.
Pancreatic Cancer Deaths in Texas Veterans
A study by a Masters Degree candidate in Texas found that veterans aged 48 to 52 in 1998 had a 90% increased risk for pancreatic cancer.
Dioxin, a component of Agent Orange, can accumulate in fatty tissue and remain for decades.
Long_Term_Agent_Orange_Effects
Dioxin has a long half-life and stays in the body for decades.2 Disease caused by Agent Orange may be passed on to future generations and can cause disabilities, birth defects such as spina bifida, and certain types of cancers
Burning solid wastes in an open pit generates numerous pollutants. These pollutants include dioxins, particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, hexachlorobenzene, and ash. Highly toxic dioxins, produced in small amounts in almost all burning processes, can be produced in elevated levels with increased combustion of plastic waste (such as discarded drinking water bottles) and if the combustion is not at high incinerator temperatures. Inefficient combustion of medical or latrine wastes can emit disease-laden aerosols." Hexachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (colloquially known as dioxin) is the same chemical found in Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War.
The Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, or PACT Act, expands VA healthcare and benefit for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances. The PACT grants presumptive causation for pancreatic cancer from burn pit exposure to post 9/11 veterans. Burn pit emissions contain dioxin, which a noted before, is the primary cancer-causing component of Agent Orange.
In 1997 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD; the most potent dioxin congener) as a group 1 carcinogen. New exposure - response analyses. Since the IARC monograph on dioxins (IARC 1997), there have been several new exposure - response analyses using the industrial cohorts