<P> According to a study by Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhan, children in the areas where Agent Orange was used have been affected and have multiple health problems, including cleft palate, mental disabilities, hernias, and extra fingers and toes . In the 1970s, high levels of dioxin were found in the breast milk of South Vietnamese women, and in the blood of U.S. military personnel who had served in Vietnam . The most affected zones are the mountainous area along Truong Son (Long Mountains) and the border between Vietnam and Cambodia . The affected residents are living in substandard conditions with many genetic diseases . </P> <P> In 2006, Anh Duc Ngo and colleagues of the University of Texas Health Science Center published a meta - analysis that exposed a large amount of heterogeneity (different findings) between studies, a finding consistent with a lack of consensus on the issue . Despite this, statistical analysis of the studies they examined resulted in data that the increase in birth defects / relative risk (RR) from exposure to agent orange / dioxin "appears" to be on the order of 3 in Vietnamese - funded studies, but 1.29 in the rest of the world . There is data near the threshold of statistical significance suggesting Agent Orange contributes to still - births, cleft palate, and neural tube defects, with spina bifida being the most statistically significant defect . The large discrepancy in RR between Vietnamese studies and those in the rest of the world has been ascribed to bias in the Vietnamese studies . </P> <P> 28 of the former U.S. military bases in Vietnam where the herbicides were stored and loaded onto airplanes may still have high level of dioxins in the soil, posing a health threat to the surrounding communities . Extensive testing for dioxin contamination has been conducted at the former U.S. airbases in Danang, Phù Cát District and Biên Hòa . Some of the soil and sediment on the bases have extremely high levels of dioxin requiring remediation . The Da Nang Air Base has dioxin contamination up to 350 times higher than international recommendations for action . The contaminated soil and sediment continue to affect the citizens of Vietnam, poisoning their food chain and causing illnesses, serious skin diseases and a variety of cancers in the lungs, larynx, and prostate . </P> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> <P> Major Tự Đức Phang was exposed to dioxin - contaminated Agent Orange . </P> </Li> </Ul>

Why did the united states use chemical warfare during the vietnam war