Vietnam’s Toxic Soil: Agent Orange’s Legacy

When Dr. Ngo Thi Thuy Huong first saw photos of Agent Orange victims, she knew she had to act. As a Vietnamese ecotoxicologist, she shifted her focus to a silent threat lurking in the soil: dioxin, a toxic chemical linked to the infamous herbicide used during the Vietnam War.

Her research zeroed in on former U.S. military bases—ground zero for Agent Orange storage. What she found was chilling: dioxin levels in the soil were up to 30 times higher than international safety limits. These 'hotspots' could endanger communities for generations, causing long-term health issues like birth defects and cancers.

\"This isn’t just history—it’s a living crisis,\" Dr. Huong explains. Her work underscores how decades-old conflicts still poison both land and lives. With Vietnam aiming to clean up all contaminated sites by 2030, the race is on to heal the scars of war.

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Legacies of War: Examining the dangers in the soil

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