Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Agent Blue Herbicide Use during the Vietnam War (A Conversation with Kenneth R. Olson)

Abstract

Kenneth R. Olson’s book, Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Agent Blue Herbicide Use during the Vietnam War, examines the history of Agent Blue, its environmental consequences, and its long-term effects on human health. Agent Blue was a tactical herbicide based on cacodylic acid and sodium cacodylate. It was used primarily to destroy rice crops and implement food-denial policies during the Vietnam War and the Second Indochina War. Across eleven chapters, the author traces the substance’s entire life cycle—from scientific research and political and military decision-making to production, transportation, spraying, storage, disposal, and the subsequent remediation of contaminated sites. Particular attention is given to the Mekong Delta, the Central Highlands, the Cu Chi and Iron Triangle areas, as well as operations in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. Manufacturing sites along the Menominee River, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, and the Panama Canal Zone are examined as comparative case studies. The research draws on military documents, scientific publications, testimony from veterans and chemical-industry workers, and media reports. The author emphasizes the difficulty of reconstructing operations that were secret, poorly documented, or remain partially classified. According to the combined estimate presented in the interview, approximately 7.8 million liters of Agent Blue, containing about 1.13 million kilograms of arsenic, were sprayed across the South Vietnamese landscape. The book demonstrates that practical measures should focus on identifying contamination hotspots, controlling exposure pathways, ensuring access to safe drinking water, and remediating contaminated soils, sediments, and water systems. Such measures are necessary even when it is impossible to distinguish precisely between natural and anthropic sources of arsenic.