Experts have warned people in two wards of Bien Hoa City in the southern province of Dong Nai not to eat locally produced food as local water supplies are polluted by extremely high levels of Agent Orange and other dioxins.
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| Thirteen-year-old Tran Minh An, an Agent Orange victim in the southern province of Dong Nai, receives healthcare advice from a local doctor |
Experts have warned people in two wards of
The food ban includes chicken, fish, shrimps, ducks, frogs and snails produced in the wards.
The chemicals are believed to have come from the city’s military airport, where US troops stored large quantities of it during wartime.
A report from Dong Nai Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs showed that the volume of dioxin in the fat of poultry, fish and shrimp in
Chief of the provincial Association for Agent Orange and Dioxin Victims, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hanh, said more than 57,000 people in Trung Dung and Tan Phong wards, which had the highest concentrations of dioxin, were in danger of getting diseases caused by dioxin - or passing them on to their descendants.
These include birth defects, spina bifida, nerve and urological disorders and soft-tissue cancer.
Nearly 70 people living near the airport have already been found to have been affected by the chemicals.
In
Trung Dung Ward resident Tran Thi Manh said her family had lived near the airport since 1960. While her five children appeared normal, her two grandchildren had high levels of dioxin.
"Like many others here, we have used well water and bought food at street markets," said Manh.
The Ministry of Public Health has issued a list of 17 diseases and deformities related to exposure to dioxin. The list includes bronchial carcinoma, trachea cancer, laryngeal neoplasm, prostate cancer, and malignant bone marrow disease and diabetes type 2.
Hanh said
Forty-year-old Tran Van Ngoc, whose daughter has cerebral-palsy and quadriplegia blamed on Agent Orange, said he had lived in Trung Dung Ward since he was a boy, but did not know the area had been saturated with dioxin.
Ngoc’s wife, Vu Thi Tiem has given up work to take care of their daughter. Her husband can earn only about VND1 million a month as a builder.
Almost all residents in the two worst affected wards are poor. The dissemination of news about the evils of the chemicals was very limited. Most people did not know the food they ate every day was contaminated.
A research of 400 people in the two wards who kill, process and eat fresh foods, including shrimp and fish, revealed almost all had no idea it was at risk.
Le Thi Thu Nga, 45, thought that the chemicals only affected those who took part in the American war.
She gave birth to two children who had cerebral-palsy and were deaf and dumb. "Doctors then told me my children and I had been affected with dioxin," she said. "I do not know what to do."
In long-time markets near the airport, including Ky Niem, Bien Hung and A24, ducks, chicken and fish have been found to have a concentration of dioxin up to 1000 times the permissible level.
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The Dong Nai Association of Agent Orange and Dioxin Victims claims nearly 3,200 children under 16 years have high levels of the chemicals - 24.3 per cent of total victims in the province.
The Ministry of Defence has carried out a VND75 billion project to tackle polluted areas. About 60,000 cubic metres of soil is being buried under concrete, bentonite and other materials to absorb dioxin.
The work is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
However, this project is only for soil at the airport and surrounding areas. There have been no provisions for cleaning up water in lakes and ground water.
(Source: VNS)
