Talk:Agent White

Untitled
IIRC the dioxin contamination in Agent Orange was a side effect of the manufacture of 2,4,5-T. Since Agent White did not contain any, would it not be free from the dioxins? And if so, does this means the Agent White was "safe"? I note that both of its contituant herbicides are still available and widely used.

The article makes no direct claim either way, but certainly paints it with the Agent Orange brush. I'm trying to see if this is accurate.

Maury 13:17, 16 December 2005 (UTC)


 * It is not accurate, Agent White did not contain dioxin. Maury 18:48, 16 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Wrong. The article needs to be changed in this regard. The claim that 2,4-D does not contain dioxins was chemical company propaganda with no science behind it. From one of my my footnotes written in the CP/M-WordStar days: "T. Sieg, Widow to Confront Makers of Herbicide. Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Journal (April 22, 1990), pp. C-1, C-10 (Tony Colucci, former chief of pesticide and toxic substance research at EPA health effects lab at Research Triangle Park, S.C. charged that EPA has knowingly concealed presence of TCDD in 2,4-D); USEPA Health Assessment Document for Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins, EPA/600/8-084/014F (September 1985), pg. 4-12 (Vertac Chemical Co. 2,4-D contaminated with 2,3,7,8-TCDD by prior use of equipment to manufacture Agent Orange); USEPA.  April 2, 1982. Minutes of Chlorinated Dioxin Working Group, attached Dioxin TSCA section 16 ANPR: Synopsis of Comments (Vertac disposed of highly-contaminated TCDD wastes by "recycling" them back into its 2,4-D manufacturing stream); Harless, Robert, USEPA.  January 16, 1981.  Memorandum to Michael Dellarco, USEPA Dioxin Project Manager (TCDD isomers identified in 2,4-D); Mullison, Wendell R., Dow Chemical Co., Public Concerns About the Herbicide 2,4-D, pp. 12-13 (1981) (2,4-D contaminated with chlorinated dioxins); Kearney, Philip C., USDA.  October 16, 1980 letter to Terry Kinney, Jr., USDA (stating that Kearney had informed Barclay Shepard of U.S. Veterans Administration of Canadian findings of TCDD isomers in 2,4-D); W. Cochrane, et al, Analysis of Technical and Formulated Products of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid for the Presence of Chlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins, in O. Hutzinger, et al (eds.), Chlorinated Dioxins and Related Compounds (1982) (1,3,6,8-TCDD identified in wide range of 2,4-D products marketed in Canada); D. Hryhorczuk, et al., Dept. of Medicine, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, Epidemiologic Investigation of the Health Status of Monsanto Employees with Past Exposure to Chlorophenols, Chlorophenoxy Acids, and Their Dioxin Contaminants at the W.G. Krummrich Plant in Sauget, Illinois:  Study Protocol (November, 1984) (unpublished), pp. 60, 22 ("The levels of PCDDs in [Monsanto Co. 2,4-D] were probably not much different from those reported [by Cochrane, et al]"); H. Hagenmaier, Determination of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in commercial chlorophenols and related products. 325 Presentius Z. Anal. Chem. 603-06 (1986) (2,3,7,8-TCDD identified in sample of 2,4-D manufactured by EGA-Chemie [Steinheim, FRG])." There is also strong circumstantial evidence that all products manufactured using chlorine are contaminated by dioxins.  Production-grade elemental chlorine is contaminated with hexachlorobenzene. USEPA.  Draft Work/Quality Assurance Project Plan for the National Bioaccumulation Study (September, 1985) pp. 44, Appendices M, N). The synthesis of hexachlorobenzene is known to be accompanied by the formation of various polychorinated dioxins and the closely-related polychlorinated dibenzofurans. Ibid., pp. Appendix B (hexachlorobenzene known to be contaminated with dioxins and furans). If hexachlorobenzene formation results in the formation of dioxins and furans, and hexachlorobenzene is formed during the chloralkalai electrolytic reaction, it seems nearly unavoidable that chlorinated dioxin and furan formation is an unwanted side reaction to the electrolytic cleavage of brine into chlorine, sodium hydroxide, and hydrogen. See also 1985 EPA Health Assessment Document, supra, pp. 4-6 ("PCDDs are also expected to be formed during the hydrolytic production of polychlorinated benzenes"). Marbux (talk) 17:09, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 one external links on Agent White. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140226132257/http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedLiteratureDAS/dh_0056/0901b803800568a3.pdf?filepath=ca/pdfs/noreg/010-20085.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc to http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedLiteratureDAS/dh_0056/0901b803800568a3.pdf?filepath=ca/pdfs/noreg/010-20085.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140226105403/http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedLiteratureDAS/dh_044d/0901b8038044d1d9.pdf?filepath=/uk/pdfs/noreg/011-01260..&fromPage=GetDoc to http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedLiteratureDAS/dh_044d/0901b8038044d1d9.pdf?filepath=/uk/pdfs/noreg/011-01260..&fromPage=GetDoc

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 12:49, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Agent White. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedLiteratureDAS/dh_0056/0901b803800568a3.pdf?filepath=ca%2Fpdfs%2Fnoreg%2F010-20085.pdf&fromPage=GetDoc
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://msdssearch.dow.com/PublishedLiteratureDAS/dh_044d/0901b8038044d1d9.pdf?filepath=%2Fuk%2Fpdfs%2Fnoreg%2F011-01260..&fromPage=GetDoc
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110715185029/http://www.ringnebula.com/project-censored/1976-1992/1982/1982-story4.htm to http://www.ringnebula.com/project-censored/1976-1992/1982/1982-story4.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 23:39, 27 June 2017 (UTC)