Agent White

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Agent White is the military code name of a defoliant used by the US forces to defoliate forests during the Vietnam War to defoliate the enemy , similar to the better known Agent Orange . It was named after the white stripes with which the barrels were marked.

Behind the name Agent White was the product Tordon 101 from Dow Chemical Company. It contained tri-isopropanylamine salts of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and picloram as active ingredients . The concentrations per liter were 240.2 grams of 2,4-D (calculated as acid) and 64.9 grams of picloram. In contrast to Agent Orange, this herbicide did not contain any 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) and was therefore not significantly contaminated with dioxins .

Due to the high consumption of Agent Orange, there were soon difficulties in procuring enough 2,4,5-T on the world market. Therefore, from the beginning of 1966, Agent White partially replaced Agent Orange as a herbicide for defoliation of forests. Agent White took a few weeks to take effect, which was considered a disadvantage by the American military. Between 1966 and 1971, 20,556,525 liters were applied.

proof

  1. ^ A b Jeanne Mager Stellman, Steven D. Stellman, Richard Christian, Tracy Weber, Carrie Tomasallo: The extent and patterns of usage of Agent Orange and other herbicides in Vietnam . Nature, April 17, 2003, Vol. 422, pp. 681-687, doi: 10.1038 / nature01537 .