The epidemiological survey on the relationship between agent orange/dioxin exposure and reproductive anomalies and congenital deformities of inhabitants living in A luoi valley, Thua Thien Hue province

ABSTRACT

Study was conducted on 1048 households with 6068 persons in A Luoi district, Thua Thien Hue province, where herbicides were sprayed heavily in war. The relationship between the quantity of herbicide sprayed in war and the severity of environmental pollution at present was recorded. Epidemiological relationship between the pollution of the enviroment and abnormal reproductivity and congenital defects, which were 1.5-4 times higher after the spray versus before the spray with diverse levels among 3 communes exposed to the spray. The most common abnormal reproductivity was spontaneous abortion, then premature delivery with died infants and congenital defects, the stillbirth and hydratiform mole were with lower rate. Dioxine was transported from the enviroment to human body through the exposed food chain such as chicken, fish, duck