I would like to contact any person who served in the Army between 1956 untill 1968,during this period, food that was issued to kitchens/Messes etc,were contaminated with chemicals such as Dieldren ,DDT.Chlordane,and many others,also 245T was used as a herbicide and pesticide,these chemicals were used on a weekly basis,and at a recent tribunal it was said to me,by the president"I suppose you have eaten a lot of Anzac biscuits laced with Dieldren.How many service personel,suffered undiagnosed health problems,and their children,who have many ailments,and, no reason for the sickness,could be found... and I have stat dec's to support what I have stated!!

Hi there dagwood...

Mate, I reckon you're drawing a long bow on this one ! I'm a Vet. and they were supposed to have absolutely 'bombed' us with agent orange ?
The trouble with Aussie Veterans, if they believe there's 'quid' in anything remotely to do with their active service, they'll go for it.
The worst offenders are Vietnam vets. Many were badly afflicted with all manner of injuries and conditions, and as yet, have not received any significent assistance whatsoever. However, quite a number have been designated as T&PI's when some had never even been 'outside the wire', let alone seen an angry man! Aussie Vets are probably the best treated in the world, and so it should be ! But all that can change in the 'blink of an eye', if we continue to push the envelope, and blame the least condition on our military service.

Dagwood

The chemicals of concern have been ingested through the environment and the food chain by everyone - not just the armed forces.

The period you refer to is part of an era of science gone mad.

These henious organochlorines were used with relish. Under houses, on commercial and domestic crops, weeds, (implemented also by aerial spraying) people's backyards etc. In fact they were used to kill anything that moved (including humans and animals!)

It was discovered in 1957 that DDT seriously impacted on human health, however, this chemical was not completely banned in Australia until around 1989/90.

Even though 2,4,5-T was banned in the US in 1983, its use was continued in Australia and has been blamed for miscarriages, crop damage and birth defects in animals and humans.

During the early '70's, hundreds of tonnes of Agent Orange (a mixture of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D) were imported for use in Australia after the Americans stopped using it as a defoliant in Vietnam. The defoliant was bought cheaply and imported from Vietnam via Singapore.

The chemicals in question are persistent, bioaccumulative and transboundary and have now contaminated every ecosystem on the planet. Health authorities advise that all humans are now contaminated with dioxin.

Vietnamese children continue to be born with hideous deformities, a legacy of their ancestors' exposure to Agent Orange (dioxin.) Dioxin is a mutagen, teratogen, and carcinogen. These birth defects in children will continue indefinitely.

The US has refused to compensate the affected Vietnamese and currently there is a lawsuit against the chemical manufacturers.

The carcinogenic organochlorine, Mirex, banned by all signatories to the Stockholm Convention, continues to be used in Australia and the US ( the bad boy signatories to the Stockholm Convention) and farmers continue to use this chemical on mangoes. Australia requested a four year extension for continued use with an additional 5 years if "necessary."

The imprudent use of Chlordane and Heptachlor continued in Australia until the '90's, despite the much earlier evidence of serious health impacts.

The information is endless Dagwood, however, I shall now close, wishing you good health!