Health outcomes of agent orange/dioxin exposure among the population living in Cam Chinh commune, Quang Tri province

ABSTRACT

Background: In a chemical war during 1961-1971, about 94,000 tons of the herbicides were sprayed over Southern Viet Nam.A main component of the herbicides is dioxin that is very harmful to humans. There are many studies focusing on people\u2019s health due to exposure to dioxin residuals. Objective: To investigate the health issues related to exposure to dioxin residuals. Subjects and method: A retrospective comprehensive survey performed on 4018 people in Cam Chinh commune, Cam Lo district, Quang Tri province and compared with 3987 people in Cam Phuc commune, Cam Xuyen district, Ha Tinh province (controls) based on epidemiological interviews. Results: The morbidity was higher at 6.4% in the herbicides-applied area than in the herbicides-non applied area. In herbicides-applied area, there was a high risk of diseases such as bone connective, genitourinary, blood endocrine system, skin and infectious diseases. Factors such as age, sex, familiar income, drinking, smoking and agricultural chemical usage contributed towards the health of the affected population.Conclusions: Agent orange/dioxin pollutions still have the potential to be hazardous to human health in the herbicides-applied areas.