What is agent Orange?
Answers
Agent Orange has 2 active constituents, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) and the reason its so destructive is the byproduct from the combination of these two chemicals, 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD) and it is a persistent organic pollutant classified as a dioxin. TCDD has the chemical formula C12H4Cl4O2. Dioxins were a name given to a class of toxic substances derived from Agent Orange and other herbicides produced but now dioxins have been found in many other processes. Waste incineration, both commercial and municipal, backyard burning, combustion of coal, wood and fire lead to the production of dioxins and these dioxins accumulate in high concentrations in soils and sediments, also finding themselves in plants, water and the air. Dioxins also can come from the chlorine bleaching of pulp and paper, production of pesticides and herbicides as well as recycling electrical components or dismantling them. Dioxins are common byproducts of the production of chemicals and this makes them common chemicals, finding their ways into our water mostly through run off or discharge from factories. Dioxins like TCDD are particularly dangerous as it has the ability to accumulate in fatty tissues and it then forms an enzyme complex that is able to disrupt and change the function of steroid hormone receptors in the endocrine system. TCDD create enzyme complexes that increases the enzymes capability of breaking down for example, carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons. This is normally viewed as good and in low doses, dioxins can be beneficial but carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons are very temporary but TCDDs are persistent and so they overstimulate the steroid hormone receptor causing adverse side effects. (Okey, 2007) Steroid hormone receptors, also known as aryl hydrocarbon receptors, control gene expression, this explains why dioxins such as TCDD have effects such as cancer which are caused by mutating DNA. In the tissues, dioxins attach to a protein receptor called the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, which is hypothesized to act like a switch that affects many developmental processes including embryo development and normal growth. (King, 2017) The activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor is hypothesized to trigger toxic responses which causes embryo and fetus defects. These defects include cognitive or neuropsychiatric problems, and peripheral neuropathy which can be caused by diabetes. Neuropathy is essentially a condition where nerves in the body have strange sensations of pain, tingling or numbness and peripheral neuropathy is when sensory, motor or autonomic nerves are damaged. This causes uncontrollable, sharp pains and the inability to hold objects for extended periods of time as well as thinning of the skin. In the late 1960s, mice were exposed to dioxins and this lead to birth defects in mice and following this test, an increase in birth defects began to be reported in Vietnam. Then when the Institute of Medicine was asked to research the effects of Agent Orange on humans, they were able to associate it with type two diabetes, leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, various cancers, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease. (Young, 2011)
Although Agent Orange was first used as a herbicide and ecological weapon, its better known now as a carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic chemical, harming not only the Vietnamese population but also US veterans returning home. Vietnam has claimed to have half a million children born with birth defects due to Agent Orange and 2 million suffering from cancer and the other illnesses that are caused by it. Around 2.4 million US veterans were exposed to Agent Orange and many reported cancers shortly after returning from Vietnam which was really what sparked outrage and controversy around Agent Orange; there have been more US veteran deaths due to Agent Orange exposure than those who died in combat. (Terrell, 2019)
None of this is copied or pasted, only like 2 quotes from studies so feel free to use it without getting smacked by your teacher