What is Agent Orange? Does it cause cancer?

Exposure routes: Inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, ocular absorption

Where found:
Herbicide mixtures formerly used for agricultural, forestry, and military purposes

At risk: Combatants and civilians exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and their children, workers occupationally exposed to the chemical, and populations exposed through domestic herbicide spraying

Etiology and symptoms of associated cancers: Because epidemiologic data on Vietnam veterans is limited, the health effects of Agent Orange have been studied indirectly in certain populations highly exposed to dioxin or dioxin-tainted herbicides. These studies provide sufficient evidence linking Agent Orange to chloracne, an acnelike skin disorder, and to certain cancers, induced when TCDD activates a protein receptor in target cells. The soft-tissue sarcomas develop from fat, muscle, or deep body tissues and usually appear as a lump. Hodgkin disease (highly curable) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma originate in lymphatic tissue and result in painless swelling of lymph nodes under the skin. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which develops from white blood cells, is often asymptomatic, but later is marked by enlarged lymph nodes. Paternal exposure to Agent Orange may be associated with acute myelogenous leukemia in children. This fast-growing cancer of the bone marrow produces abnormal white blood cells and results in fatigue, shortness of breath, and increased susceptibility to infection. Limited evidence links Agent Orange to respiratory cancers, prostate cancer, and multiple myeloma, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2012. Skin cancer, kidney cancer, and male breast cancer are among other cancers that have been studied among those exposed to Agent Orange and similar herbicides but that the IOM has classified as having insufficient evidence of association.

History: Phenoxy herbicides, including the 2,4,5-T component of Agent Orange, were developed in the 1940s and widely used in agriculture and forestry. Starting in 1960 during the Vietnam War, the United States military sprayed Agent Orange onto lands in Vietnam and Laos. It suspended this activity in 1970, after a study in laboratory animals linked 2,4,5-T to birth defects. Since the 1980s, various groups of Vietnam veterans have filed lawsuits against the makers of Agent Orange. The United States has permanently banned all uses of 2,4,5-T and, consequently, Agent Orange.

"Agent Orange and Cancer." Cancer.org. Amer. Cancer Soc., 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 20 Aug. 2014.

Haberman, Clyde. "Agent Orange’s Long Legacy, for Vietnam and Veterans." New York Times. New York Times, 11 May 2014. Web. 20 Aug. 2014.

Institute of Medicine, Board on the Health of Select Populations. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2012. Washington: National Academies P, 2012. Digital file.

"Veterans' Diseases Associated with Agent Orange." Publichealth.va.gov. US Dept. of Veterans Affairs, 30 Dec. 2013. Web. 20 Aug. 2014.

Waskey, Andrew Jackson. "Agent Orange." Encyclopedia of the Veteran in America. Ed. William A. Pencak. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2009. 28–32. Print.