Defoliant agent application during the United States - Vietnam War and potential longterm environmental effects | |
| Author | Tran Thu Trang |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-08-43 |
| Subject(s) | Defoliants--War use--Vietnam Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Environmental aspects |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Environment Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | During the period 1961- 1971 of Vietnam War, The United State (US) Military used a huge amount of defoliants which were contaminated with dioxins to destroy large areas of forest and crops in Southern of Vietnam for their military purposes. 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), known as the most toxic chemical compound which is predominant contaminant in those defoliants penetrated into various environmental media and are potential to cause negative effects to human health. Highly dioxin contaminated soil, sediment and foodstuff at former US military installations where defoliants were stored, spilled and perimeter sprayed by other means than aircraft are significant sources of dioxin contamination in Vietnam. It is believed that people living near these areas now continue to be exposed to dioxin. On the other hand, dioxin treatment technologies are very expensive and limited in Vietnam. Therefore, the measures to solve the dioxin - related problems in contaminated sites still are big challenges of Vietnam government. The main goal of this study is to investigate possible transport of dioxin from contaminated sites to surrounding environment. This will help to clarify the linear relationship between various levels of dioxin concentration in environmental media and health symptoms in human exposed to this pollutant. In this study, firstly, the map illustrating defoliant application by US Military and current location of dioxin contaminated sites (Dioxin Hot Spot) in Southern of Vietnam was conducted with MapInfo and Google Earth application. Secondly, levels of dioxin concentration in soil, sediment, foodstuff and human blood, adipose tissues were processed by Maplnfo software to present the transportation route of dioxin in the environment of surrounding the dioxin hot spots. Base on the map of dioxin contaminated sites, dioxin transport route and literature review on statistic data about health symptoms of people exposed to defoliant spraying, the link of dioxin application in the war and human health effects was preliminarily investigated. To prevent dioxin from spreading out, the penetration of dioxin to the food-chain should be restricted. Educative measures should be conducted to warn people living in the areas of high dioxin levels about toxic effects in order to reduce the unnecessary exposures. The dioxin hot spots should be treated to lower the contaminant levels in soil, water and other environmental media. |
| Year | 2008 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Chongrak Polprasert;Karstensen, Kare Helge; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Vietnam;Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2008 |