Think again on dangers of herbicide
RE: THE letter from Rex Barron in the September issue ( Glyphosate herbicide is no danger to humans ). His assertion that “a herbicide … is not dangerous to the human metabolism” is simply not true.
All use of 2,4,5-T (one of the Agent Orange ingredients) has been banned in the USA and Canada since 1985 and restricted by the 75 signatory nations of the Rotterdam Convention since 1998.
There have been numerous scientific studies of chronic health problems and birth defects caused by herbicide use in Vietnam where as many as 2.8 million US service personnel and 4.5 million Vietnamese civilians may have been exposed. The Vietnamese Red Cross estimates that “up to three million Vietnamese have suffered health effects … of whom at least 150,000 are children with birth defects”, and the US government provides healthcare and compensation to 1.4 million US veterans suffering from illnesses associated with Vietnam service (www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/agent-orange-in-vietnam-program/health-effects)
With such evidence of death and suffering on a huge scale, Mr Barron’s jolly tale of Air Commando pilots enjoying shots of Agent Orange is both inappropriate and offensive.
Richard Conn, Vaucluse
