Rainbow Herbicides

The Rainbow Herbicides are a group of tactical-use chemical weapons used by the United States military in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.

[1] The rainbow herbicides damaged the ecosystems and cultivated lands of Vietnam, and led to buildup of dioxins in the regional food chain.

Super or enhanced Agent Orange was tested by representatives from Fort Detrick and Dow Chemical in Texas, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and later in Malaysia, in a cooperative project with the International Rubber Research Institute.

[1] Rainbow herbicides and other dioxin-like compounds are endocrine disruptors, and evidence suggests that they continue to have long-term health consequences many years after exposure.

As an example, dioxins and dioxin-like compounds influence the hormone dehydoepiandosterone (DHEA), which has a role in the determination of male or female sex characteristics.

Soldiers exposed to Rainbow Herbicides in Southeast Asia reported long-term health effects, which led to several lawsuits against the U.S. government and the manufacturers of the chemical.

Professor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, at Từ Dũ Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital is pictured with a group of disabled children in 2004.