AO effect on pregnancy at Vietnam’s hotspots still high
The damaging effect of Agent Orange/dioxin on pregnancy at three hotspots in Vietnam is still serious, according to the latest research conducted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The findings were announced at a scientific conference held on November 24 by the two ministries.
According to Professor and Doctor Tran Duc Phan from Hanoi Medical University, the dioxin chemicals used by the US military during the war in Vietnam before 1975 continue to cause high rates of miscarriage, stillborns, and congenital malformation.
It is serious at the three hotspots including the Danang and Phu Cat airports in the central region and the Bien Hoa terminal in the south, where the US military kept large amounts of dioxin chemicals during wartime.
The ministries surveyed 1,500 pregnant women in Danang’s Thanh Khe District, 6,600 mothers-to-be in Phu Cat District of Binh Dinh Province, and 1,551 expectant women in Bien Hoa City, which is the capital of Dong Nai Province.
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This file photo shows US environmental experts working in a dioxin clearance project at the Danang airport in the central city of Danang.
Photo: Tuoi Tre |
The results 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 US military sprayed 80 million liters of dioxin chemicals on forests and residential areas in Vietnam.