Hanoi, Washington OK Agent Orange Study

The U.S. and Vietnam agreed to launch a joint study on the health effects of Agent Orange, the herbicide used to destroy large swaths of forest during the Vietnam War.

Following a conference on Agent Orange in Hanoi, representatives from the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and Vietnam’s environmental agency signed an agreement that prioritizes research on possible links between the chemical and miscarriages, birth defects, neurological disorders, cancer and diabetes, among other illnesses.

Scientists also will research forests and look at ways to clean up lingering concentrations of dioxin, Agent Orange’s main ingredient.