[CPEO-MEF] On the hunt for Agent Orange

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Alaska
FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER
On the hunt for Agent Orange
EDITORIAL
June 26, 2003

Nearly 40 years can wash away a lot, but it can't quite end the worry
some people from Haines to Fairbanks have about whether they came into
contact with a deadly toxin contained in some batches of the defoliant
Agent Orange.

A state request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for an inquiry is a
good, and necessary, step toward turning those worries into something
solid--for good or ill.

Agent Orange, best known by the public for its chemical stripping of
jungles and farms in South Vietnam and Laos during the Vietnam War, was
used in the 1960s along a 626-mile military oil pipeline that traversed
parts of Canada and Alaska. What officials don't yet know is whether the
Agent Orange used in Alaska contained the dioxin that is widely believed
to be the cause of many cases of cancer and other serious health
problems among Vietnam veterans and their children.

That's why the Army Corps of Engineers needs the public's help, and
fast, to determine the best sites from which to take samples.

Much is unknown about how Agent Orange affects humans. Just this March,
scientists from points around the world gathered in Hanoi, Vietnam, to
discuss what is known about the effects of Agent Orange and its major
contaminants and to decide what additional research might be needed. The
U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences participated in
the event.

This editorial can be viewed at:
http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7252~1478713,00.html

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