10 replies to this topic

[Adrian6256]

Hey Guys,

 

I have a friend who is a long time collector who has a matching jungle jacket and trousers that belonged to a USAF ground crewman who was part of Operation Ranch hand, which as many of you know is the Agent Orange program during the Vietnam War.

 

The question that I would like to pose you y'all is; Is it possible to own contaminated set of clothing from the Vietnam War? I'm curios because there were many chemicals that were used, and I don't know if they could linger in the clothing for a long period of time. 

 

I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks

 

Adrian

 

[Adrian6256]

[Adrian6256]

[Ronny67]

I think that if it was soaked with the chemical agent, it would have been washed. 

[gwb123]

I believe normal washing will remove the chemicals used in Agent Orange... although it may take multiple runs.

 

Manions auction house once sent me a jungle jacket that reeked of pesticide.  I recognized the odor because my family used to have an apple orchard that had be sprayed to keep the bugs down.  I probably ran that through the machine five times, and aired it out in the sun.  I finally got rid of the smell.

[Gavin D.]

You should be fine owning a jungle jacket that had been sprayed with Agent Orange. The half life of agent orange is roughly 7 years so you would be fine owning one. Here is a article on it.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.../pubmed/2733058

 

 

[Blacksmith]

I'd suspect we have experts in this on the forum (chemists, pathologists, clinicians, etc.). I am absolutely not one.

However, I'm not sure that chemical effectiveness is the same as serum half-life. My layman's understanding is that the latter refers to how long after exposure can levels of the chemical be found in the blood. I don't think that's necessarily the same as degradation rate in source chemical potency.

You should be fine owning a jungle jacket that had been sprayed with Agent Orange. The half life of agent orange is roughly 7 years so you would be fine owning one. Here is a article on it.
 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.../pubmed/2733058
 
 

[Adrian6256]

I believe normal washing will remove the chemicals used in Agent Orange... although it may take multiple runs.

 

Manions auction house once sent me a jungle jacket that reeked of pesticide.  I recognized the odor because my family used to have an apple orchard that had be sprayed to keep the bugs down.  I probably ran that through the machine five times, and aired it out in the sun.  I finally got rid of the smell.

 

 

Fascinating. I've always wondered if there would be a obvious smell to anything on the clothing.

 

Adrian

[Gavin D.]

I'd suspect we have experts in this on the forum (chemists, pathologists, clinicians, etc.). I am absolutely not one.

However, I'm not sure that chemical effectiveness is the same as serum half-life. My layman's understanding is that the latter refers to how long after exposure can levels of the chemical be found in the blood. I don't think that's necessarily the same as degradation rate in source chemical potency.

 

Ok depending on the environment the jacket has been kept in, the half life of the chemical can be shorter or longer. But it still should be safe to own at this point with the amount of time that has passed.

[Adrian6256]

I guess I just better make sure I don't lick the jacket huh?  

[gwb123]

I guess I just better make sure I don't lick the jacket huh?  

 

Or use it as a pillow.