PRESS RELEASE -- Secretary of the Air Force,
Directorate of Public Affairs
Release No. 0122046
Jan 22, 2004
Air Force Study Reveals Apparent Association
Between Cancer and Agent Orange Exposure
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new analysis of cancer
incidence among Air Force
veterans of the Vietnam War found increased risks of prostate cancer and
melanoma in those who sprayed Agent Orange and other herbicides,
according
to an article that will be published in the February edition of the
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
http://www.acoem.org/journal/cme/joemcme.asp
The article, written by members of the Air Force
Health Study on Operation
Ranch Hand, indicates that a statistical adjustment for years served in
Southeast Asia (SEA) reveals increased risks of prostate cancer,
melanoma and cancer at any anatomical site among those with the highest
dioxin exposure. Previous results of the Study's research had found no
consistent evidence that Agent Orange is related to cancer.
The National Academy of Sciences will review this
study along with many other studies on herbicide and dioxin exposure to
make a report to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to assist him in
decisions related to compensation.
The study included veterans of Operation Ranch
Hand, the unit responsible for the aerial spraying of Agent Orange and
other herbicides in Vietnam, and comparison Air Force veterans who
served in SEA during the war but did not spray herbicides. Since the
first health examination in 1982, the Air Force has tried to determine
whether long-term health effects exist in the Ranch Hand flyers and
ground crew, and if they can be attributed to the herbicides used in
Vietnam.
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http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/01/27/agent.idg/
Agent Orange studies to hit the
Net this year
January 27, 2000
Web posted at: 9:44 a.m. EST (1444 GMT)
by Daniel Verton
(IDG) -- The Air Force plans to make available by
the year's end all raw data and analysis associated with a study into
the health effects of the Agent Orange herbicide used during the Vietnam
War. But a congressional study has criticized the service for dragging
its feet on making the data available via the Internet and other
electronic media.
However, the Air Force has failed to release all of
the results from the 25-year, $140 million study, which is scheduled for
completion by 2006, to the public in a user-friendly format -- namely,
via the Internet or compact disc -- according to a recent study by the
General Accounting Office.
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