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Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam
Abnormal sperm parameters and infertility
Cognitive and neuropsychiatric disorders
Motor/coordination dysfunction
Peripheral nervous system disorders
Metabolic and digestive disorders (diabetes, changes in liver enzymes, lipid abnormalities, ulcers)
Immune system disorders (immune modulation and autoimmunity)
Circulatory disorders
Respiratory disorders
Limited/Suggestive Evidence ofNoAssociation
Several adequate studies, covering the full range of levels of exposure that human beings are known to encounter, are mutually consistent in not showing a positive association between exposure to herbicides and the outcome at any level of exposure. A conclusion of "no association" is inevitably limited to the conditions, level of exposure, and length of observation covered by the available studies. In addition, the possibility of a very small elevation in risk at the levels of exposure studied can never be excluded. There is limited/suggestive evidence of no association between exposure to herbicides and the following health outcomes:
NOTE: "Herbicides" refers to the major herbicides used in Vietnam: 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid); 2,4,5-T (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and its contaminant TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin); cacodylic acid; and picloram. The evidence regarding association is drawn from occupational and other studies in which subjects were exposed to a variety of herbicides and herbicide components.
that it reviewed. The specific rationale for each of the findings summarized in this table is given in Chapters 8 through 11. The second part of the charge is addressed at the end of this section. The committee's response to the third part of the charge is summarized in general terms in Chapter 4, and specific findings for each health outcome are also given in Chapters 8 through 11.
The definitions of the categories and the criteria for assigning a particular health outcome to them are described in Table 1-1. Consistent with the charge to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in Public Law 102-4, the distinctions between categories are based on "statistical association," not on causality, as is common in scientific reviews. The committee was charged with reviewing the scientific evidence, rather than making recommendations regarding
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