Last week, Treehugger posted an article suggesting that ranchers in Brazil were covertly using Agent Orange to illegally clear patches of the rainforest. The article received several comments on most sites where it was syndicated, mostly outraged that this could be occurring; however, there were some that were skeptical.
Agent Orange is a combination of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D; however, the 2,4,5-T was found to be contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, also known as TCDD, which is a very toxic dioxin compound. Today, 2,4,5-T is banned in many areas of the world due to the toxicity dangers. It isn’t just Agent Orange that is banned, but one of its principle ingredients. Translations via Google of the sites cited by Treehugger never actually claimed that Agent Orange was used or that the entire “Agent Orange” compound was used.
(more…)
