Dioxin Effect on Pregnancy at Vietnam’s Hotspots Remains High: Research

A research conducted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Science and Technology shows that effect of Agent Orange/dioxin on pregnancy at three hotspots in Vietnam remains serious. The findings were announced at a scientific conference held on May 16 by the two ministries. Dioxin chemicals used by the U.S. troops during the Vietnam War before 1975 continue to cause high rates of miscarriage, stillborns, and congenital malformation, according to Prof. Tran Duc Phan from Hanoi Medical University. And the exposure become strongest at the three hotspots including Danang airport in the central coastal city of Danang, Phu Cat airport in the central province of Binh Dinh, and Bien Hoa terminal in the southern province of Dong Nai where the U.S. military kept large amounts of dioxin chemicals during the wartime. Result from a survey of 1,500 pregnant women in Danang’s Thanh Khe district, 6,600 mothers-to-be in Phu Cat district of Binh Dinh, and 1,551 expectant women in Bien Hoa city showed that the rate of miscarriage was 3.79% in Thanh Khe, 6.57% in Bien Hoa, and 4.45% in Phu Cat. The rates of death in womb were 1.59% in Thanh Khe, 2.38% in Bien Hoa, and 0.49% in Phu Cat. “Researchers discovered a link between abnormality in pregnancy and exposure to dioxin-related chemicals,” Dr. Phan said. Specifically, the rate of miscarriage in Thanh Khe and Phu Cat in 2013 was even higher than that in 2001. “We recommend that all women of child bearing age must be prescribed folic acid before their pregnancy,” said the doctor. From the 1950s to 1975, the U.S. military sprayed 80 million liters of dioxin chemicals on forest and residential areas in Vietnam. (VnExpress.net May 17)