History of Agent OrangeAgent Orange is a chemical defoliant introduced into agriculture in 1946 as a herbicide to aid farmers and was used accordingly throughout 1950, after which its production was restricted to the military only. uses under the Defense Production Act of 1950. Since then, although the ingredients were commercially available and accessible to the public, mass production became heavily regulated and only a handful of American chemical companies were able to produce it. Agent Orange takes its name from the distinctive orange bands used by the military to mark the Agent Orange storage containers in which it was transported, rather than the color of the substance itself. The British Army was the first to use Agent Orange in the Malayan War. Later it was used by the United States in the Republic of Vietnam from 1961 to 1971 during the Vietnam Conflict. It was used as a defoliant and herbicide in Vietnam to prevent the enemy from using jungle foliage, for cover and concealment, and to disrupt food production used to support the enemy force (Committee on Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure (2011). Agent Orange is a dangerous pollutant that has caused countless birth defects and cancers among the Vietnamese civilian population and U.S. military personnel who served on land and at home. Brown Water Navy units responsible for intercoastal riverine operations in the Republic of Vietnam. More than 40 years after its battlefield employment ended, the extent to which U.S. service members were exposed to Agent Orange is still the subject of debate and investigation in Congress. ...from the enemy but from our own efforts to win the war. Works Cited Committee on Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Exposure to Agent Orange. (2011). Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Exposure to Agent Orange. The National Academies Press. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (2007). DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2005-149. In DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2005-149 (p. 298). Institute of Medicine (United States). (2012). Article title. In Veterans Affairs and Agent Orange: 2012 Update (pp. 1-1). National Academies Press. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2014, 03 18). Veterans' Illnesses Associated with Agent Orange. Retrieved from Veterans' Illnesses Associated with Agent Orange: http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/index.asp