Yarram Abnormalities and unresolved historical issues concerning 2,4,5-T

In 1968 aerial application of 2,4,5-T approximately three years after planting was introduced to control silver wattle, followed by basal bark spraying or stem injection of the eucalypts with mixtures of 2,4,5-T and picloram (Flinn and Minko 1980. Advances in Control of Woody Weeds in Radiata Pine Plantations in Victoria). Application rate usually 1.1 kg 2,4,5-T in 50 litres of dieseline/ha.

Consul-General of USA writes to Secretary, Premiers Department about dangers of 2,4,5-T

Dangers of 2,4,5-T - A letter to the Secretary, Premiers Department, from the Consul-General of the USA, underlining the dangers of the weed killing chemical 2,4,5-T was forwarded to this committee. (Also mentioned in 36th and 37th meeting). MINUTES OF THE THIRTY FIFTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 15/5/70.

Dioxin Content of Australian 2,4,5-T <1ppm

Manufacturers of 2,4,5-T in Australia and the dioxin strength compared with overseas manufacture. Information was tabled which indicated that only two companies now make the compound in Australia. On the information supplied the dioxin content was shown to be less than 1ppm. and the committee felt that no further problem from this angle existing with the use of 2,4,5-T. MINUTES OF THE FORTY THIRD MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 5/3/71.

Tarra Valley Area Sprayed? June 1971

Decision 14.5.71. To advise the Forests Commission that the submission will be considered at the next meeting. A further letter dated 3rd June, concerning an area near Gellibrand, was received. This was added to the area already notified. Mr O’Brien advised that the Agriculture Department laboratories would be doing some collaboration analytical work on the scheme. Mr Dunk advised that the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission would prefer some form of control on the Tarra Valley area as the Yarram Water Supply comes from this area. 18.6.71

(a) To advise the Forests Commission that the Committee has no objection to the conduct of the spraying operation with the exception of the Tarra Valley from which the Yarram town water supply is drawn.

(b) The Committee would need to be convinced that spraying the Tarra Valley would be safe. Evidence of this point should be available from analytical data in other areas.

(c) To point out that because the compound concerned has been given adverse publicity recently more than usual attention should be taken to ensure that spray drift does not contaminate any waterways or storages.

(d) To suggest to the Commission that the applicator must have a permit from the Agriculture Department to use hormone sprays from the air.

(d) APM Forests Pty Ltd Letter received from APM dated 11th June outlining a spraying program similar to that proposed by the Forests Commission and also using 2,4,5-T. During discussions it was agreed that no catchment area or water supply would be affected.

Decision 18.6.71 (a) To advise APM that the Committee has no objection to the spraying operation as outlined. (b) To bring to the notice of APM that the applicator will require a permit from the Agriculture Department to use hormone spray from the air. (c) To point out that because this compound has been given adverse publicity recently, more than usual attention should be taken to ensure that spray drift does not contaminate any waterways or storage.MINUTES OF THE FORTY SIXTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 18/6/71.

Letter to Pesticides Review Committee concerning dioxin produced by burning 2,4,5-T

No 31 (c) APM Letter dated 22 Sep received from APM concerning Dioxin produced by burning 2,4,5-T and including an article by Jane Cameron, University of British Columbia. MINUTES OF THE EIGHTY NINTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 24/11/72.

2,4,5-T spraying Tarra Valley National Park in Yarram Water Supply Catchment

Tarra Valley National Park - Blackberry Spraying. Letter received from Mr O’Brien from the Department of National Parks requesting authority to spray blackberries along the Tarra River a portion of the area to be sprayed being a proclaimed water catchment area. It was stated that various restrictions would be enforced against spraying close to the stream and the cleaning of equipment used to spray. 2,4,5-T is the material to be used at a dilution of 1:600. MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND NINTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 21/2/75.

APM spraying Parish of Bulga

(A) (1) Letter dated 21st and 23rd April received from APM Forests Pty Ltd, advising plans for the use of 2,4,5-T to control noxious weeds in various areas of Budgeree, Bulga and Callignee. The Secretary advised Mr Pollock that approval could not be given until all information had been considered.

Mr Pollock has contacted the Secretary by telephone and said that in these instances the Coy. Had no option but to spray because a direction from the Vermin and Noxious Weeds Destruction Board had been received which required the spraying of blackberries and brambles by a certain time. Mr Jack said that this was a regular operation which was carried out each year and could conceivably be planned ahead and the committee notified.

Dr Christophers said what should happen now was for APM to make a general application for control of noxious weeds and having regard to the hazards which might be entailed, notify the committee when the project will be carried out.

Decision - To accept offer from Mr Jack that he would discuss the matter, along these lines, with Mr Hall of APM. MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND TWELFTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 27/6/75.

Admission that Dioxin Levels of old Stock unstable

Item 1 APM Forests Pty Ltd Mr Jack reported that he had spoken to the manager of APM and Mr Pollock had not included in his notification, the precautions to be observed by spraying teams, although there has been a verbal acceptance of the suggestions made. Information was handed in at the meeting from APM Pty Ltd, inclcuding maps, appropriate areas, broad locations and the chemicals and rates of use.

Decision (1) That Mr Jack, Mr Pearce and Mr Bill form a sub-committee to consider the information provided. (2) To agree that the program as set out by APM be accepted. Mr Jack advised that in his opinion APM’s submission is a bit weak on the ‘precautions’ aspect. He suggests that the ‘specification for Aerial Spraying’ should be expanded to require:- 1) Notification, of neighbours and water users, of the intended operation. 2) Avoidance of spraying over running streams or dams. 3) That the chemical meets a specified tolerance and perhaps in the case of 2,4,5-T a purity level eg dioxin 0.5ppm.

In regard to the purity level of 2,4,5-T, Mr Jack said he had recommended a safe tolerance because dioxin could be present in this material especially in old stocks which could be unstable. It was advised that it was a general requirement for 2,4,5-T, produced in Australia, to be free from dioxin. Mr O’Brien offered to check this out with Mr Snelson in Canberra. Water Sampling, it was agreed, did very little good because it took only a short time to dissipate the chemical and in any case it was considered that the material prevented no great hazard at its registered strength . . .

Decision (a) To advise APM Forests and Lands that precautions should be observed as follows:- (1) Neighbours and water users should be notified of the intended operation. (2) Spraying over running streams and dams must be avoided. (b) That the Fisheries and Wildlife Branch check on the use of 1080 for the control of Black Faced Wallabies in pine plantations. MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND THIRTEENTH MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE 25/7/75.

Weedagol T.L. and Gesaprim 500 PW also used in Yarram district

Forests Commission Letter dated 12/8/76 concerning aerial spraying of two areas of pine plantations, with herbicides, totaling approx 600 ha of very steep rough country in the Yarram district. The herbicides to be used are Weedagol T.L. Plus (Amitrole, a carcinogen, potential groundwater contaminant and suspected endocrine disruptor - ed) and Gesaprim 500 FW (atrazine, a carcinogen, potential groundwater contaminant and suspected endocrine disruptor -ed) mixed together in water to which the surfactant Plus 50 has been added.

Decision: To advise the Forests Commission that the Committee has no objection to the conduct of the spraying as set out. MINUTES OF THE ONE HUNDRETH AND TWENTY THIRD MEETING OF THE PESTICIDES REVIEW COMMITTEE

12/8/76. File No's 76/1524. Purchase of Herbicides Yarram Forest District. Commission Decision 76/32/23. Recommend to Acting Minister purchase ex Ciba-Geigy Aust Ltd of 156 x 20 Litres Weedazol TL Plus at $1.90 per litre (less 6%), 163 x 20 L Gesaprim 500 FW at $3.22 per litre as per State Tender Board contract and 65 litres of Plus 50 Surfactant at $1.04 per litre. Total Cost $16,137.12.

Purchase of Herbicides (Amitrole and Atrazine) Yarram District

5/7/77: File No's 76/1524. Purchase of Herbicides Yarram Forest District. Commission Decision 77/27/8. Recommend to Acting Minister purchase ex Ciba-Geigy Aust Ltd of 201 x 20L Weedazol TL Plus at $1.50 per litre, 320 x 20 L Gesaprim Flowable at $3.40 per litre and 3 x 20 litres plus at $1.27 litre as per Company's quotation dated 17/6/77. Total cost $27,866.20

Doubts on Use of Sprays in the Yarram Region

Yarram Standard News Feb 22, 1978 p1

Yarram’s unspoilt country hit the headlines last week with world-wide coverage on possible effects the use of pesticide sprays 24-D and 2,4,5-T may have on babies born in this area.

The news broke after a Yarram doctor claimed that the number of abnormalities in young babies is several times the national level. The matter has been taken up by the State Minister for Health, Mr Houghton, but no conclusive proof is available that the sprays are connected with the abnormal births recorded in this area in the past two years.

Reports have been received from New Zealand that the same sort of problems have arisen and the sprays are being blamed by a number of organisations and doctors.

Two Yarram doctors, Dr B Woodward and Dr R Guy have commented publicly on this issue. Dr Woodward highlighted the possible problem and Dr Guy called on the responsible authority to cease spraying with the pesticides until a thorough investigation was undertaken.

The debate so far has revealed that there have been abnormalities in young cattle and sheep. This too has been attributed to the use of the two sprays. However this has been countered in some sections as possibly due to a virus.

Mr Houghton has stated that the sprays are not being used at present but will be used again when conditions are suitable. He said that this would not be for several months and that by that time a full investigation could be concluded.

Cases in the Hills

Since the news broke last week reports have been received at the ‘Standard News’ office that two families on adjacent farms in the hill areas around Yarram have two very young children born in the last couple of years with abnormalities.

Media Reports

In the past couple of days the television media has been carrying with their reports "shots" of tourist brochures featuring the title "Yarram and its unspoilt country:. As one person said, "It takes years to build up a theme and the media shoots it down in a few seconds.

Council won’t hold a public debate on sprays Yarram Standard News March 15 1978 p1

The Alberton Shire Council has rejected a request from a conservation group to hold a "Monday Conference" style meeting in Yarram to discuss the use of certain weed control sprays in the area. However, the Council decided to write to the State Minister for Health expressing concern in relation to public statements made recently about the use of the sprays 24-D and 2,4,5-T and asking for the Minister’s comment.

Mr M Mosig attended the Council meeting to represent the Yarram and District Conservation Group. He said he would like to see a meeting organised in Yarram to discuss the use of sprays and the possible effects on unborn babies. Mr Mosig suggested the Minister and Shadow Minister for Health should be invited to the meeting.

Early in the Council debate, Cr M Gay said he would be against such a meeting as he didn’t want the matter to develop into a political slanging match. Cr G Gooding asked Mr Mosig if he could see such a meeting providing the answers. Cr Gooding said he was concerned on any matter associated with public health but he would like to see the correct investigations made. Mr Mosig said the sprays may have to be banned.

Cr Harvey said there was no proof the sprays contributed to malformations in young babies. He said at the present it was the ‘opinion’ of a number of doctors that the sprays were suspect. "I have been using the spray for over 20 years on my property with no ill effects" said Cr Harvey. He said the bad publicity given to the area over the matter in recent weeks had been most damaging.

Cr Harvey said the Minister for Health had given an assurance that the sprays were not harmful when used under departmental regulations.

Cr B Walpole was most irate about the whole matter. He said the district was being given many forms of bad publicity. He said a common theme seemed to be that "many unusual things occurred in the Yarram district". He produced a report which had appeared in a Melbourne suburban paper wherein a doctor indicated there appeared to be no conclusive proof of human damage from the sprays.

However, abnormalities in the Yarram area could come from other aspects. He said that living close together in smaller towns could be the answer. "I take great exception to these remarks which insinuate that we are inbred, which of course isn’t the case," said a ruffled Mr Walpole.

Cr G Gooding said the Council should express its concern to the Minister for Health and ask that an investigation be made and findings forwarded to the Council. He said the findings should be made public. Council accepted and passed Cr Gooding’s motion.

Bad Publicity Will Hurt Yarram’s Image Yarram Standard News May 10 1978 p1

Noone will win a Nobel prize in connection with the treatment the town of Yarram is receiving at present in relation to possible effects resulting from the use of the sprays 24-D and 2,4,5-T.

Even though exhaustive investigations have indicated that the herbicide cannot be connected with malformations and deaths in babies in this area two years ago, the press and TV reports hold Yarram up in a very poor light. If the sprays are injurious in any way to human life, get rid of them and not only from Yarram.

The case has been made from medical men and the press that a danger does exist. However, they have no exact proof. The case has been refuted by even more eminent people and committees of enquiry and still the rubbishing of Yarram persists.

This paper does not enter the debate in anyway whatsoever on medical or technical grounds but it speaks because of the untold damage being done to the area and to the innocent people who live in it.

Yarram couldn‘t get a "par" on its "unspoilt territory" until the news of the use of herbicides in this area broke about three months ago. Now the world is being told in print and on TV and radio that Yarram could constitute a danger to the unborn.

"Yarram doctors confirmed that at least ten pregnant women had sought their advice about continuing with their pregnancies in the past two months" (Sunday Press May 7).

Of course it is going to worry pregnant women in this area AND beyond - those who may have been thinking of coming here.

The point hasn’t been made clear that as yet NO PROOF EXISTS that the herbicides were the cause of the abnormally large proportions of malformed babies in 1975.

There have been two State inspired investigations into the matter and both would seem to indicate that there is no connection. The initial one was certainly negative. The second has yet to be released but the committee’s chairman has indicated he believes there is no connection. . .

If the sprays are bad, they are bad for locals everywhere. Let’s hear of the amount of the sprays used all over the state and the effects, if any, on local people. In the meantime stop using the sprays until a final considered medical and scientific opinion is given.

AT THE SAME TIME SHUT OFF THIS DAMAGING PUBLICITY WHICH WILL KILL OFF A GOOD TOWN AND THE JOBS THAT GO WITH IT".

24-D and 245-T and Births No link say enquiry Chairman Yarram Standard News May 24 1978 p1

The State enquiry into the possible effects of the herbicides 24-D and 2,4,5-T on births in the Yarram area, particularly between 1975 and 1976, is drawing to a close.

Even before the final report has been presented, assurances have been given that the herbicides are not connected with the abnormalities noted in 17 babies born in Yarram.

The chairman of the Health Department’s Committee of Enquiry, Dr J.E. Aldred, has been most specific in his news releases on the matter. He said in all the cases studied in Yarram there was no evidence at all linking cases with spraying. He said a final report would be made for further methods of surveillance of congenital abnormalities.

Mr G Douglas, head of the Vermin and Noxious Weeds Department, told the Alberton Shire Council at its May meeting that much had been written on the possible harmful effects of the sprays. He said that to date no connection could be established between the use of 24-D and 2,4,5-T and abnormal births in the Yarram district. He said much of the publicity on a national level had been emotional rather than factual.

He said the public outcry was similar to the one experienced when myxamatosis was first introduced and the chemical was related to deaths in certain parts of Victoria. The inquiry instituted by the government proved there was no connection. He said workmen using 24-D and 2,4,5-T were quite happy with the facts given to them. He said the list under consideration had been reduced to four.

As stated earlier in the article, Dr J E Aldred indicated he was satisfied that the Yarram situation doesn’t tie up with accusations against the herbicides 24-D and 2,4,5-T.

The committee of enquiry under Dr Aldred comprises 12 members - six from the Health Department and six from outside. All are highly qualified and highly respected members of the community. The commission of Public Health is open to the media and their report will be tabled later - possibly in a week.

Mr Douglas also told the Alberton Council that reports the US were in stages of banning the herbicide wasn’t true. The authorities in America were carrying out investigations and any future action would depend on findings. A similar course was being followed in Australia.

Yarram Standard News May 24 1978 p5 (Letter to the Editor)

Dear Sir,

I would like to comment on your article "Bad Publicity Will Hurt Yarram’s Image", dated May 10.

Perhaps I have read meanings into your article which are not there, but to me it implied that protecting Yarram’s image is more important than pushing for a public investigation into the indiscriminate use of products containing Dioxin and in particular herbicides 24-D and 2,4,5-T.

To contradict your articles, I think there is indeed much evidence to support this investigation that Yarram is the catalyst to some extent for this inquiry is perhaps unfortunate but very necessary.

The media is fulfilling its vital role of supplying information to the public. How else will investigations into the connection between Dioxin and birth defects affecting the central nervous system, in particular Spina Bifida and Anencephaly, be carried out without enough public outcry to push the issue along.

I feel we are missing the point of this important issue.

Yours sincerely, Susan Bland, Yarram.

Hunt orders study of scare weedkiller. Protests force Govt action by Greg Hartung (p3 Australian June 9 1978).

The Federal Minister for Health, Mr Hunt, intervened dramatically in the controversy involving a possible link between a common weed-killer and human birth deformities.

Mr Hunt yesterday ordered a full-scale investigation into the herbicide 2,4,5-T by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

The move follows an outcry by parents and medical experts in Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

It has been alleged that the use of the chemical may cause gross abnormalities in babies including anencephaly (absence of brain) and spina bifida (an abnormality of the spine).

Mr Hunt met the director-general of the Department of Health, Dr Gwynn Howells, in his Canberra office early yesterday and later made his announcement of investigation to Parliament during Question Time.

The NHMRC inquiry will be chaired by the head of the public health division of the department, Dr W.A. Langsford, who is also a senior member of the council. He will report to a full meeting of the NHMRC in Adelaide next Thursday and Friday.

The inquiry will draw together all available evidence on 2,4,5-T, especially the latest claims from Cairns in north Queensland and Yarram in Victoria.

Doctors in Cairns raised the alarm last week when they suggested that deformities occurring in about 6 per cent of births in the district might be linked to the use of 2,4,5-T on cane crops in the same area.

The controversy surrounding 2,4,5-T centres on the highly poisonous chemical dioxin. Dioxin is a by-product in the manufacture of 2,4,5-T and traces of it remain in the finished product.

The Victorian Minister for Health, Mr Houghton, announced this week that the use of 2,4,5-T and an associated chemical 2,4-D - would be suspended in all Victorian government departments.

Allegations have also been made in NSW linking 2,4,5-T with major birth defects in the Murrumbidgee area.

It has been the combined weight of protests from three States which has forced the Federal Government to take this urgent action.

Mr Hunt told the House of Representatives yesterday that concern over the suggested link between the herbicide and birth defects had been conveyed to him from the Queensland, Victorian and South Australian governments.

"I might say that top scientists in this country and in other parts of the world have for some time been investigating the link between congenital defects in humans from 2,4,5-T," he said. "But none of those investigations has, to the present time, established any link between the chemicals involved and congenital defects."

Nevertheless, Mr Hunt said he was sufficiently concerned to respond to the wishes to ask the NHMRC to undertake a re-examination of all the evidence.

Meanwhile, a Senate standing committee has recommended an examination by Mr Hunt into the procedures for reporting and investigating possible effects of the use of agricultural chemicals.

The report of the standing committee on science and the environment into herbicides, pesticides and human health was tabled in the Senate yesterday.

It said the procedures for reporting and investigating possible long-term or obscure effects of the use of agricultural chemicals appeared to be weak.

Purchase of Herbicides (Amitrole and Atrazine) Yarram District

26/7/78: File No's 76/1524-76/143. Purchase of Herbicides Yarram District. Commission Decision 78/29/25. Approved purchase 26/7/78. (a) ex Nufarm Chemicals Pty Ltd of 87 x 20 litres of Amitrole T at $1.59 per litre as per State Tender Board contract and 2 x 20 litres surfactant at $1.24 per litre. (b) Ex Ciba-Geigy Australia Ltd of 152 x 20 litres of Flowable Gesaprim (Atrazine) at $2.45 per litre as per company's quotation of 6/7/78.

Herbicides Given the all Clear Yarram Standard News October 4 1978 p1

The State Government inquiry into the herbicides 24-D and 2,4,5-T and its possible effects on unborn babies in the Yarram area, has found no evidence of any connection.

The report, tabled in parliament last week, stated that the cluster of babies with birth defects born in Yarram in 1975-1976 did not suggest a specific local cause.

It further stated that normal use of the sprays has not been shown to cause human or animal birth defects. The State’s Health Minister, Mr V.Houghton has withdrawn his ban on the sprays.

The members of the committee enquiring into the herbicides were Dr J.E. Aldred, Chairman, Mr R.S. Belcher, Dr A.J. Christophers, Dr A.Clements, Professor D.M.Danks, Dr E.L.French, Dr D.B. Galloway, Dr O.M. Garson, Dr W. Parsons, Professor C.Raper, Dr G Rouch, Dr H.J.Sinn, Mr E.J.O’Brien (co-opted), Dr S.B.Fish, support staff Dr J.L.Cooper, Dr M.A.Morsy and Dr N.C.Powers.

The report said that detailed records of all eight cases of deformed births in the Yarram area revealed "that none of the eight women were specifically exposed to herbicides during pregnancy".

The committee kept the names of the eight families involved secret but the case histories and findings are filed away with the reports. It was also stated that the higher rates of abnormal births could have "happened by chance" in any one area in the State and the figures overall would have remained normal.

It also made this comparison of the amounts of food and drink would would have to be taken daily by a 60kg pregnant woman to reach the "no effects" level of 2,4,5-T.

"She would have to drink 1.5 litres of spray mix or eat 24kg of freshly sprayed blackberries or drink 100 litres of water collected in a 10,000 litre tank from a roof sprayed at a rate of 4 kg per hectare, or drink 12,000 litres of milk or eat 6,000 kg of meat, assuming the animals were deliberately fed 2,4,5-T at much higher levels than would be expected to occur through the ingestion of treated pasture".

30 Year Record

Although isolated reports of ill effects have been noted in connection with agricultural use of the herbicides, broad based experience over the 30 years in which the compounds have been used suggests the dangers are minimal.

It is noteworthy that substantiated ill effects in the general population potentially exposed to residues of the compounds have not been observed. This is not unexpected in view of the lack of herbicide residues in foodstuffs after normal agricultural usage.

In Victoria, certain sections of the community were exposed to much greater levels of the herbicides than those that would be applicable in agricultural practice. Despite reported adverse effects, investigations by committees failed to substantiate cause-effect relationships in terms of the use of the materials.

However, it could also be argued that no valid analysis of the situation was possible because of poor reporting and lack of basic data.

Massive Spraying Refuted

The report refuted the press reports that "massive" aerial applications were made in 1975. It stated that there was nothing unusual about the period 1975 and 1976 as compared to other periods.

It was noted that applications were greater in 1974 than either 1975 or 1976.

"In fact only 12% of 24-D and 3% of 2,4,5-T were applied by aircraft in the Yarram area in 1975".

The report stated that "Victoria lacks organised research on the epidemiology of birth defects and lacks an adequate system of surveillance of these birth defects which are not rapidly lethal".

The Health Minister, Mr Houghton, said the report had been most comprehensive and already many requests had been received for copies. He expected the report to take its place on the world scene as an invaluable reference on the subject under review.

One of the cases put forward in Yarram related to a woman who had conceived and spent the pregnancy period and birth outside the Alberton Shire. Another birth occurred in 1978, well after the period in question. However, both cases were investigated but no relationship could be made between malformed births and herbicide sprays.

Sprays banned in Wonthaggi Yarram Standard News October 25 1978 p3

Wonthaggi Council has banned the controversial sprays 24-D and 2,4,5-T in the urban areas of the Borough.

The Council took the step at the meeting last week after receiving a submission from Mrs L.Dean of North Wonthaggi.

Lancet Publishes Australian Report on Link Between Birth Defects and Pesticide 245T A.M. 3 July 1979.

Steve Cosser: To begin this morning 245T. In May of this year we reported that the National Health and Medical Research Council had been accused of suppressing a report by two Sydney academics which established a possible link between the herbicide 245T and the birth of defective babies. On A.M. The Council claimed that it had twice rejected the report on the grounds that the link hadn't been definitely established. The Minister for Health Mr Hunt backed up the Council's decision in parliament. One of the academics, Dr Barbara Field, told us the Council had pressured them to withdraw a summary of the findings from a British Medical magazine. Now the highly respected British medical journal, The Lancet, has published the report, pointing to a link between the chemical 245T and the disturbing incidence of birth abnormalities in Australia. So we're left with a situation where a report the Australian Health and Medical Research Council didn't want to know about, is considered by the British medical journal as being of substance. Christopher Sweeney has the details.

Christopher Sweeney: The report, the most damning evidence yet against the use of 245T, has had a long and controversial history. It was originally submitted to the National Health and Medical Research Council last November and twice rejected, on the grounds that the link had not been definitely established. But is was after these setbacks that the authors decided to seek publication in The Lancet, the most authoritative of the world's medical journals. The report was originally written by two specialists from Sydney University, the Professor of Social and Preventive Medicine, Professor Charles Kerr, and Dr Barbara Field, a research specialist in birth abnormalities at the School of Tropical Medicines. It is a culmination of many years research following doubts within the scientific community about the continued use of 245T in Australia despite its ban in the United States. For more than a decade anxiety has been expressed about the chemical, but in the absence of specific proof the drug companies and the rural lobbies have been able to keep it in general use. Privately it is now acknowledged that the whole issue has become engulfed in a major bureaucratic fight in Canberra between rival factions, and this in turn has led to charges of a cover up. So just how damning is the submission published in The Lancet. Dr Barbara Field.

Dr Field: The two main points are that by graphing the usage of 245T in Australia for a year against the combined rate of neural tube defects for the following year, it's a linear correlation that there's a straight line relationship which falls off in the last two years of the study, which corresponds with the monitoring of dioxin levels in 245T. And the second part of the study is that we already knew that there was a significant seasonal variation in birth rates, as babies with neural tube defects in NSW which differs from that of the northern hemisphere in that there are more babies conceived in December January and February in NSW which we determined by survey is actually the time of the greatest usage of 245T.

Christopher Sweeney: But does your report actually produce any new evidence of any possible link between the chemical and abnormalites.

Dr Field: Well the new evidence is this linear correlation between the usage of 245T and the rates of abnormalities.

Christopher Sweeney: Originally you and Professor Charles Kerr from Sydney University had submitted a report to the National Medical Research Council in Canberra. Does the report as published in The Lancet differ in any significant detail from that original report?

Dr Field: No, the two main points were the ones that came out in the two reports that we submitted, the original report was – lacked a lot of the supportive data because we – it became such a cumbersome report and they asked for actually the data that we working from, the full data, and there were a lot of computer analyses as well testing a lot of these correlations. But the two main points that we put into the letter of The Lancet were well brought out in the report.

Christopher Sweeney: Why then were you asked this year not to publish the findings of your report?

Dr Field: I think the wording was that it would seem to give support to the fact that there was a correlation between 245T and birth abnormalites.

Christopher Sweeney: And was there in fact a correlation?

Dr Field: Yes there's definitely a link, a linear correlation between the usage of 245T and the rates the following year of certain groups of abnormalities.

Steve Cosser: On the line we have a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council and chairman of the working party on 245T,

Dr William Langsford. Dr Langsford thank you for joining us. How do you react to the Field report appearing in The Lancet?

Dr Langsford: We've already commented on Sydney on the 14th and 15th of June on this report. Briefly we do not accept that this shows a link between the usage of 245T and human birth defects. For example, during the course of the study the instance birth defects at first rose and then they fell. They fell at a time when the usage of 245T was increasingly marginal. Our conclusion was that the study methods and quality were not acceptable and that a cause and effect relationshipbetween 245T usage and birth defects cannot be demonstrated.

Steve Cosser: Why then the apparent difference of opinion?

Dr Langsford: I hesitate to criticise the authors but I think should point out that studies of this type cannot produce conclusive evidence of any existence or otherwise of a causal relationship. Any studies seeking to obtain such evidence requires different methodology and a much more reliable data base if it is to withstand critical scientific analysis and thus provide a basis on which we can formulate a decision.

Steve Cosser: Did you at any stage tell either of the authors of the report not to publish?

Dr Langsford: No we did not tell them not to publish, we did advise Professor Kerr that we thought his study would be subjected to severe scientific criticism and we certainly – we have no power to tell people publish or not publish. Steve Cosser: If it could be proved to you that a member of the Council did in fact advise Professor Kerr not to go public what would your reaction be then?

Dr Langsford: We advised Professor Kerr we thought it would be inadvisable for him to publish the report in its original form.

Statistical Error in Victorian Government Yarram Enquiry October 1980.

In October 1980, a report was published by Australian National University Academics, Peter Hall (Department of Statistics) and Ben Selinger (Department of Chemistry). The report was entitled "Australian Infant Mortality from Congenital Abnormalities of the Central Nervous System: A Significant Increase in Time. Is there a chemical cause?" Chemistry in Australia October 1980 Vol 47 No. 10.

The report stated that; "pp420 . . . The report prepared for the Victorian Government on congenital abnormalities in the Yarram District does not examine all the relevent Victorian data, and also makes a serious error in its statistical evalulation."

pp421 "We would like to point out a serious statistical error in a Victorian Government report (11) on the relationship between congenital abnormalities and herbicide use. In computing the expected rate of abnormalities in the Yarram area of Victoria, the authors of the Report (p.3) used data from the 18 year period 1960-77 to estimate the mortality rate in the period under scrutiny (1975-77), achieving a figure of 2.7 (actually 2.67) neonatal mortalities from congenital abnormalities per 1,000 live births. However, the mortality rate over the period 1960-74 (which is to be compared with the years 1975 -77 and so should be treated seperately) is in fact as low as 1.02 per 1,000 live births; see the Yarram column of Table 2. Because this is based on a small sample, we calculated the rate for the State of Victoria in the same period. The neonatal mortality rate from congenital abnormalities in the whole of Victoria over the period 1960-74 was 2.285, calculated on over one million live births (12). The rate of incidence of congenital abnormalities is known to exhibit geographic trends, but there is evidence that at least as far as abnormalities of the CNS go, the abnormalities in Australia tend to be reduced in regions of low population density such as Yarram (13).

Table 2: Average neonatal mortality rates from congenital abnormalities, per 1000 live births

Period	Yarram	Victoria
1960-1974	1.02	2.285
1960-1977	2.67	2.34
1968-1977	4.24	2.37
1975-1977	14.4	2.67

Table 2 gives neonatal mortality rates for Yarram and all Victoria over several periods. (The Yarram figures are of course based on a much smaller sample than the Victorian figures). By coincidence, the rate for all of Victoria in the period 1975-77 is equal to that for Yarram in 1960-77. However, using the 1975-77 Victorian rate to assess the Yarram data for the period 1960-77 ignores the fact that mortality rates have shown a marked tendency to increase with time in Victoria; see below.

A total of 4 neonatal mortalities from congenital abnormalities was observed among 278 live births in Yarram during the years 1975-77. If the rate of mortality is taken as the State average of 2.285, then the probability of observing 4 or more deaths in 278 live births is 1/250. (Equal to the probability of obtaining eight heads from eight tosses of an unbiased coin). The probability of 1/150, computed on the mortality rate of 2.7, was used in the Report. Several other probability calculations based on the rate of 2.7 are also erroneous. It follows, in our view, that some of the conclusions of the Report are questionable.

We should also point out that the rate of incidence of neonatal mortality from congenital abnormalities of all kinds has shown a tendency to increase with time in the State of Victoria (see Table 1). (*That is, the probability that the tendency is due to chance is less than 1 in 100 – equal to the probability of obtaining 9 or 10 heads from 10 tosses from an unbiased coin.) The coefficient of rank correlation is 0.77, which is significant at the 1% level (one-sided test). We find it surprising that the Report did not examine this data, particularly since one of its terms of reference was to make recommendations on “the notification, surveillance and further study of congenital abnormalities with the State of Victoria".

In this discussion we have not subdivided abnormalities into those of the CNS and those not of the CNS, since no such subdivision was made in the statistical analysis of the Report. However, abnormalities of the CNS in Victoria exhibit the same trend noted above for all of Australia.

A further criticism of the Report relates to Table 3 on pp.18 and 18(a), in which neonatal deaths from both congenital and non-congenital causes are lumped together. This table represents the Report's only data on neonatal mortality for all of Victoria, and attempts to compare neonatal mortality rates with herbicide usage. However, the majority of neonatal deaths are from non-congenital causes which are very unlikely to be connected with herbicide usage, and so the comparison presented in Table 3 is almost meaningless. Moreover, herbicide usage should not be measured in terms of kg per statistical division, as in the Report, but as kg per unit area, or some similar standardized unit.

Improbable events are dismissed in Appendix 6 of the Report on the basis that the hypothesis under test could have been of potentially very many (500). We must point out that on almost every occasion in this paper we have tested the single null hypothesis that there was no tendency for mortality rates to increase with time, and therefore our conclusions cannot be dismissed in this cavalier manner."

11.Report of the Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District, Government of Victoria, Melbourne 1978.

12.The Victorian Year Book.

13.B. Field, Journal of Medical Genetics, 15, 1978, 329.

Australian Herbicide Usage and Congenital Abnormalities.

In April 1981 Peter Hall (Department of Statistics ANU) and Ben Selinger (Department of Chemistry ANU) were published in Chemistry in Australia (April 1981 Vol 48 No. 4). Their article was entitled "Australian Herbicide Usage and Congenital Abnormalities". One can only wonder at the TCDD levels of the imported 2,4,5-T.

The report investigated the rumour of hundreds of tons of Agent Orange imported into Australia in the early 1970's. They noted a "highly significant increase in Australian neonatal mortality in the mid 1970s from certain types of congenital abnormalities. The types are the same as those observed in some studies of the effects of herbicides on congenital abnormalities".

The report showed import figures from "Singapore of chemicals classified under the 1972/73 SITC code number 512.28.09 ("other phenol derivatives, halogenated etc", which excludes hexachlorophane, pentachlorophenol and 4-chloro-3,5-xylenol"

Table 1: Weight in thousands of lbs (value in thousands of $US) of imports into Australia with 1972/3 SITC code 512.28.09, by stated country of production and financial year. (NA=not available)

	Singapore	UK and USA	Others	Total
1967/8	0 (0)	NA (152)	NA (71)	NA (223)
1968/9	NA (51)	NA (182)	NA (100)	NA (333)
1969/70	370 (161)	158 (141)	82 (44)	610 (346)
1970/1	312 (140)	256 (177)	164 (79)	732 (396)
1971/2	0 (0)	442 (273)	105 (60)	547 (333)
1972/3	0 (0)	376 (252)	69 (57)	445 (309)

Table 2: TCDD levels in 200 random samples of Agent Orange returned from Vietnam to Johnston Island. (*3 samples 22, 33 and 47 mg/kg).

TCDD		0.05	0.11	0.51	1.1	2.1	3.1	5.1	7.1	10.1
	<0.05										>20.0*
mg/kg		-0.10	-0.50	-1.00	-2.0	-3.0	-5.0	-7.0	-10.0	-20.0
% of samples	12.5	21.0	35.0	8.5	4.0	3.0	5.0	2.5	6.0	1.0	1.5

"Australian 2,4,5-T usage

The average Australian usage of 2,4,5-T during the calendar years 1969 and 1970 was 500 thousand pounds (8), which should be compared with imports from Singapore in the financial year 1969-1970 . . . of 370,000 pounds. . . Figures provided . . . by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the majority of the imports from Singapore entered Australia through the state of Queensland (289,524 lb), although some also came in through Western Australia (22,400 lb).

". . . Official Government reports have been prepared on apparently discordant rates of abnormalities in parts of New Zealand and the Australian states of Queensland and Victoria. The most detailed report was for the Yarram district of Victoria (7), but even this contains serious statistical errors (9). The abnormalities which caused most concern in the Yarram report were spina bifida and urinary system abnormalities (including kidney abnormalities) have been statistically connected with exposure to TCDD (10), (11), (12), (13).

Our concern about the possible import into Australia of high TCDD herbicides led us to study Australia-wide statistics on congenital abnormalities of this type leading to neonatal death . . .

We compared the five-year period 1968-72 with the next five years, 1973 -77. For spina bifida (ICD code 741) there was an 84% increase in the mortality rate, and for urinary system abnormalities (ICD 753), a 68% increase (which includes a 97% increase in renal agenesis (ICD 753.0). The mortality rate from the total of all other causes was virtually constant (in fact, there was a 1% decrease). . .

If there is a link in Australia it is likely to be connected with Australia's high herbicide usage in heavily populated areas. For example, data in the Yarram Report indicates that Victoria's second smallest statistical division, Melbourne, is likely to have had the highest usage of 2,4,5-T per unit area in 1975. . . Incidentally the division of Central Gippsland containing Yarram, had the second highest usage". . .

(7) Anon, Report of the Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District (Government of Victoria, Melbourne, 1978).

(8) B. Field and C. Kerr, Lancet ii, 1978, 1341-1342

(9) P. Hall and B. Selinger, Chem Aust 47, 1980, 420

(10) M.S. Meselson, A. H. Westing, and J. D. Constable, US Congressional Record 118, 1972, 6807-6813.

(11) A.H. Westing, in 'Chlorinated Phenoxy Acids and their Dioxins' (ed. C. Ranel), 285-294 (Swedish Nat. Sci. Res. Council, Stockholm, 1977).

(12) K. D. Courtney, D W Gaylor, M. D. Hogan, H. L. Falk, R. R. Bates, and I. Mitchell, Science 168, 1970, 864-866.

(13) J. A. Moore, B.N. Gupta, J. G. Zinki, and J. G. Vox, Environmental Health Perspectives, Experimental Issue 5, 1973, 81-86.

Pesticides: The New Plague

The victims..the politics..the alternatives

Linda Cawcutt/Catherine Watson Friends of the Earth Fitzroy, 1984.

4 Conspiracy of Silence p10 - 12 . . . the crows would pick out their eyes and the foxes would attack them where they lay, unable to move or to defend themselves.

"Rene Woollard is 72 and farms 10 acres at Stacey’s Creek near Yarram. Seventy-two should be an age for peace and reflection, but Rene is still fighting a war. Her war is with the Lands Department and the Forest Commission, which she believes have blitzed Yarram in a cloud of deadly spray for many years. Her struggles have not made her popular with all her neighbouring farmers. In the past year her watchdog and pet goat have been poisoned because - she believes - she has broken a conspiracy of silence.

Rene and her brother came to the once beautiful Albert River Valley in the early 1960s with a young dairy herd and $16,000 worth of garden stock. They intended to start a flower nursery and market garden. Their first intimation of trouble came when the Lands Department told them that their new business posed a problem because of the sprays the department had to use to control noxious weeds, including blackberry.

Rene’s brother had consistently used DDT on their previous farm. He always followed the manufacturer’s directions and took every possible precaution. But he was already dying when they arrived at their new farm. In December 1967 he died from liver damage and an enlarged heart.

By 1969, the Lands Department was taking care of the problem of noxious weeds in the Yarram district by spraying the road sides and by aerial spraying. By the early 1970s, Rene’s nursery stock had been completely wiped out. She says now the project never stood a chance.

Then the Lands Department began to approach her offering to spray her land too (for a price). When she did not accept their offers, they became more insistent, threatening her and other landowners with court action if they did not control the noxious weeds on their property. Rene was told that if she could not afford to pay for the spraying, the cost would be entered against the title of the land and deducted when the land was sold.

She describes what followed as the blitzing of Yarram, with thousands of litres of chemicals - the infamous Agent Orange among them - being sprayed by air and from the ground. Although designed to eradicate blackberry, among other noxious weeds, Rene said it merely encouraged the blackberry and destroyed everything else, including gum trees that were hundreds of years old.

In 1975-76, the Lands Department pressured Rene into allowing a spray gang to spray part of her river flats. The spraying cost $400 and took eight days. The operation required a tractor, two trucks, two tanks and seven men and they used 23 tanks of 2,4-D Amicide 50.

Then the nightmare started. In the next few years, Rene lost 34 cows out of a herd of 51 with paralysis. The paralysis always started the same way, and Rene grew to dread the sight of a cow or sheep that was slightly unsteady on its legs. When they went down, she helped them up at first and they seemed to recover, but the day always came when she wouldn’t be able to get them up again because all the power in their legs had gone. And when that happened there was nothing left but to shoot them.

In the winter, hundreds of sheep and cows in the mountains went down into the gullys and, if the farmer didn’t find them and shoot them, the crows would pick out their eyes and the foxes would attack them where they lay, unable to move or to defend themselves. Rene has a photograph of a cow that foxes have mauled while it was still alive.

During this time many of the cows developed swellings of the thyroid gland which Rene was able to treat successfully. All recovered except one steer which developed rapid bone cancer and had to be shot.

There was also a big increase in the number of cows aborting their calves between six and eight months. Many more died in birth, drowning in their own fluid as the sac became too tough for them to break. Rene began to carry a knife with her so that she could cut the sac if the mother was having trouble.

The calves that did make it were born with tumours on the afterbirth, which was discoloured by coffee-coloured blood. Many calves were born with enlarged joints and oversized heads. They were weak and undersized, spastic and blind. Some had no tails. They would live a few days and then die.

Yearlings slaughtered at the time showed a breakdown of fats, which were a glossy orange shade, liver and kidney damage, enlarged hearts and excess fluid in the body cage. Their meat was a slippery watery mess and they all looked as if they had been exposed to great heat, or “cooked”. Meat in the butcher’s shop showed a breakdown of the sinews.

In 1975-76, Yarram farmers shot and buried 3,000 cows, for which they received a compensation of $5 a head. Rene said the other farmers were scared to speak for fear that their farms would gain a reputation for disease and so became harder to sell. A conspiracy of silence pervaded the area. Rene says that she heard a farmer say: “I lost nine calves last night,” but he just buried them and said nothing, anxious to protect his farm’s reputation. Drought was selected as the universal scapegoat for the deaths and abortions, but there have always been droughts and water shortages in a farmer’s life. They are something he can measure and fight. This was an enemy that everyone refused to recognise."

2 The Sprayers (Pesticides: The New Plague - 1984 FoE). p5-6.

"Herbicide ran down workers' arms saturating their clothing. The gas masks at the depots collected cobwebs...

Arch Lavell died of bowel cancer in April 1979 after years of illness. A question mark still hangs over his death. Lavell worked for the Victorian Lands Department for 10 years, for seven of those as a spray operator. He spent six months of each year spraying with herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D.

Seventeen months after Lavell's death another Lands Department spray operator died of cancer. Three more department employees involved in spraying died in quick succession.

The Lands Department put a figure of $10,000 on Lavell's life. The compensation was paid to his widow three years after his death. It was a fraction of what should have been awarded, according to Australian Workers Union lawyers. Although one local doctor said at first that Lavell's illness was related to his work, government doctors later persuaded him otherwise.

Until Lavell called in the union there was nowhere for spray workers to wash. They were issued with minimal protective clothing and faulty spray equipment. Herbicide ran down workers' arms saturating their clothing. The gas marks at the depot collected cobwebs.

A publication in the series Rural Industry Safety dealing with agricultural chemicals states: "after spraying the operator should shower and change his clothing; he should have his protective clothing laundered at frequent intervals in addition to when it is obviously contaminated. Spray equipment should be checked before re-use for leaks, blocked nozzles or faulty hoses."

Arch Lavell literally sweated chemicals. He perspired heavily whenever he used the herbicide sprays. His family remembers that sharp smell. The constant skin rash and violent headaches abated when he stopped work for a period of two weeks but after the first day back the rash flared up again. Arch was 52 when he died of cancer. He was spraying for the Lands Department seven weeks before his death.

"SUBMISSION

PESTICIDES IN SOUTH GIPPSLAND 1

4 OCTOBER 1985 * B.Sc.*

P12 DRIFT

We feel we have sufficiently shown reason for concern over the toxic effects of chemicals presently being used in aerial spraying in the South Gippsland region. The greatest threat to human health, apart from accidental exposures, comes from continued low level exposure to these insidious poisons in the form of spray drift. The existence of drift has been acknowledged by Government bodies, as evidenced in the Forest Commission Victoria’s Standing Instruction No.0-733 (18 June 1984) - point no.9 “Off-target drift constitutes one of the major problems in aerial application of pesticides.”

“Cold air drainage in the evening can transport suspended spray droplets long distances away from elevated target areas.” This becomes extremely important when it’s remembered that the bulk of aerial spraying done by the Forest Department is on pine plantations spread throughout the Strzelecki Ranges. Although the standing orders advice as to the optimal conditions for the least amount of drift this cannot always be heeded, especially as the weather and wind conditions of South Gippsland are noted for their sudden and dramatic changes.

The Aerial Spraying Control Act and Regulations fully recognize spray and vapour drift of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T esters (and related products) of up to 8km where damage can still occur to susceptible plants. However the statuatory controls only deal with “hazardous areas” (eg. Tobacco, orchards, vineyards, market gardens and the like - FCV memorandum on Velpar L, 25 Nov. 1981). This apparently means the sanctioning of spraying near natural ecosystems and human habitation.

The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (N.H.,M.R.C.) has set maximum allowable air levels of 2,4,5-T at 10mg/cubic metre of air and 2,4-D at 200 mg/m3 (N.H.,M.R.C.,1975). Now compare this with the A.D.I. (for teratogenic effects) of 0.01mg 2,4,5-T/kg body weight (as earlier stated). To an average woman weighing 60 kg the A.D.I. would be 0.6mg, working on the assumption she breathes about 30 cubic metres of air per day, while absorption of inhaled pesticide is total, (U.S.E.P.A.,1978) the A.D.I. becomes 0.02mg/m3.

At Narbethong, low volume spraying with 2,4,5-T, was studied for drift in optimal spraying conditions by McKimm and Hopkins (1978). For the rate of application of 1.12kg/hectare from 30 metres, only 65% recovery at ground level was recorded. They comment that this is in the upper range. So, at best, one third of aerial spray has immediately left the target area. What becomes of pregnant women living in the vicinity of spray areas? Did Yarram show the answer to this question in the years 1975 - 1976?

The Department of Conservation Forests and Lands acknowledge spray and vapour drift in a pamphlet (No.70 B July 1984) titled, Care in the Use of ‘Hormone Type’ Herbicides near Susceptible Crops.

“Spray Drift This is the movement by air currents of small droplets of spray material produced when spraying with a boom, hand wand, misting machine or aircraft. These small spray droplets can be carried by the wind and land on susceptible plants growing a considerable distance away. The hazard from spray drift is greater when using misting machines and aircraft (because they produce many fine droplets) than when using ground operated booms and hand wands.”

“Vapour Drift Volatile formulations of 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, MCPA, picloram, dicambe and triclopyr evaporate readily when exposed to the atmosphere. “These vapours can drift over considerable distances in the slightest wind or on air currents and susceptible plants may be affected over one kilometer away from the point of application. Vapours can arise from a treated area for several hours after spraying and even though the wind may have been blowing away from a susceptible crop at the time of spraying, a change of wind later in the day may carry the vapours over the crop causing considerable damage. The risk of vapour damage increases as the temperature rises. It is also high on still days when “inversions” are present, as vapours can be carried up by air currents and returned to the ground several kilometers away.” This makes even more interesting reading if you substitute ‘susceptible humans’ for ‘susceptible crops’. . .”

P14 “ . . . The following is an extract from a submission by *** *** documenting her case history linked to spray drift.

‘As I drove my children to school the spray plane emptied out a load of spray in the area along the Albert River and the road and there was a fine white mist all over my car and windscreen and I had to use washers and windscreen wipers so as to see where I was driving. Aerial contractors came into Hiawatha area on October 18, 1974 looking for aerial spraying contracts and on October 21st 1974 I wrote to them and told them that I strongly resented any aerial spraying of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T near our property but on October 28th 1974 at 4:30 pm they started aerial spraying on property lower down the Madalya Road approx. 2 or 3 miles away and sprayed for one a a half hours. Almost immediately we got the drift as there was a south-east breeze blowing directly from the sprayed area towards ours and Miss Woollard’s properties.

Once again I’d replanted my garden and just got tomatoes etc. and spring flowers growing well. While the aerial spraying was being carried out I spent all the time in the garden watering down shrubs and plants hoping to save them. What I didn’t realize at the time was just what the spray could do to me.

Three days later I had to go to Dr. Martin in Yarram with a severe rash. My face burnt and stung like a severe sunburn and looked like a dried up paper bag with a rash. Twice now since that time I have had to have pre-cancerous cells burnt from my face and neck. This, I might add, means each time a month of most shocking pain and discmfort plus not being able to go out in public.”

ACCIDENTS

Another area of grave concern is the chance of accidental direct human exposure to spray, and the lack of follow-up legislation to protect people and property. Recent incidents in South Gippsland clearly demonstrate the dangers.

Example 1, a property called Brigadoon Park at Seaview was mistakenly sprayed with 2,4-D and possibly some 2,4,5-T on the 7 Oct. 1977. Although the farmhouse, water storages, garden and residence were saturated with spray there was no legal redress against ‘Skyfarmers’ under the existing Aerial Spraying Control Act or Regulations.

Example 2, this occurred at the Leongatha Drive-In Theatre on the 15 Jan.’79. Two hundred patrons were sprayed with Polyram 2000 at 8:55pm. Once again there was no legal breach of the Aerial Spraying Control Act or Regulations.

Example 3, in April 1984 the Forests Commission of Victoria helicopter aerial spraying (with a herbicide only safety-tested by the manufacturer) in the Yarram District accidently sprayed a number of vehicles carrying Lands Department workers. All the workers required hospital treatment and some still complaining of after-effects.

Example 4, in Sept, 1985 an accidental direct dumping of 2,4-D amine occurred, affecting a strip of quality pasture approximately 200m by 50m, when the Alpine Aviation pilot experienced difficulties in pulling out of a gully. The property affected belongs to ***** of Turton’s Track, Binginwarri, the target area was a neighbouring property. Regardless of what was below him, that pilot had to dump his entire load to avoid crashing . . .”

Article from Melbourne Age: June 19 2003

Union to test soil for Agent Orange

By Paul Robinson

Workplace Editor

A union is planning to test soil in Gippsland's Yarram district to determine levels of cancer-causing chemicals used for weed control in the 1970s, following concern from families.

The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union will interview about 40 families in the district whose relatives once sprayed blackberries and other noxious weeds for the former Victorian Lands Department.

The union is investigating the exposure of workers to controversial defoliants - 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T - known during the Vietnam War as Agent Orange. It wants testing to determine the levels of dioxin, a long-lasting carcinogen believed to be present in high levels in the chemical batch used at Yarram.

Agent Orange use in the area was investigated by a State Government inquiry in 1978. The Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District found that a cluster of birth defects in babies born in 1975 and 1976, when spraying occured, "was not such to suggest that a specific local cause was operative".

The council of experts also found no evidence that levels of 2,4-D or 2,4,5-T used caused the birth defects or birth abnormalities in local animals. But the report found that Victoria lacked organised research on the epidemiology of birth defects, and "lacks a system of surveillance of those birth defects which are not rapidly lethal".

Union national vice-president Albert Littler said yesterday there had been a lack of continuing research and monitoring.

He said workers may have become ill after the study, partly as a result of chemical exposure. The union had spoken to some families who had sprayed the chemicals and who had complained of recurring rashes and other illnesses.

"A number of them have also raised concerns about their collegues who they believe died prematurely from cancers and heart conditions," Mr Littler said.

"We are doing some preliminary work here because these substances have caused illness among workers in Western Australia, which is the subject of a Government inquiry. We believe the same chemicals that were used in WA were used here."

According to evidence tabled before WA inquiries, Agent Orange was transported from Vietnam to Singapore in 44-gallon drums and then sent to a now defunct company called Chemical Industries Kwinana, in Perth. Part of the batch was used to spray weeds in Derby, WA, where workers have reported a variety of illnesses to a series of Government inquiries. It was also used in Queensland and Yarram to control weeds.

A Victorian Health Department spokesman said yesterday the 1978 inquiry led to the creation of the Peri-Natal Data Collection Unit, which had found birth defect and child mortality rates for the Yarram area were not abnormal.

He said other department research sections also found nothing to indicate abnormal health trends for Yarram: "There is nothing we have which would seem to indicate a problem."

The Yarram Standard 30/7/03 p3

245T meeting here

Members of the CFMEU will stage a public meeting and information gathering session on the 245T and 24D issue . . . on Monday, August 11.

Thye hope to meet with workers who were exposed to 245T and 24D chemicals and their families.

After the meeting at 11 a.m. organisers hope those interested will fill out medical surveys for comparitive testing with workers from other states who have been exposed to similar material.

"We have been prompted to come down to Yarram following initial investigations in the region and after tests have been done with other workers in WA," said a spokesman for the CFMEU, Albert Littler.

Dr Harper did the test in WA and we have brought his forms with us and will be repeating it in this area."

Mr Littler said he was interested in speaking to workers who may have come into contact with the material before 1970 and up until 1995 in the old Alberton Shire, Central and East Gippsland.

"We are trying to see if there is a commonality of medical complaint. If it can be established that there wasn't sufficient duty of care in the workplace, we might be able to mount a successful application for compensation."

Officers of Slater and Gordon are expected to be at the meeting.

"We have made contact with people in the Yarram area and on verbal information received it appears there are problems in common with fellow workers in WA, relating to long-term health affects and premature death."

Mr Littler said there were no statutes of limitation in Victoria and the only report done had been the one in 1978 that related to miscarriages and birth defects in the Yarram area, not the affect on workers.

Anguish at 245-T chemical spray meeting

p1 Yarram Standard 13/8/03

Disturbing tales of suffering after exposure to chemicals used by the former Lands Department in the Yarram district were told at a public meeting in the town this week.

Major surgery, miscarriages and lives of pain and discomfort were claimed to have been suffered by former employees and their families.

One man even reported his tomatoes dying after being exposed to the fumes from his work clothes.

About 20 current and former residents attended the meeting, staged by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union at the Yaram Bowls Club last Monday.

The meeting attracted people from Yarram, Maffra, Churchill, Bairnsdale and interest from Korumburra, and was featured on the Channel Seven News on Monday night and several other programs yesterday.

"This is just the first stage in fighting this and hopefully it will not be the last," said the CFMEU's representative Albert Littler.

He said the meeting had gone well with upwards of 20 former Lands Department workers attending.

"They seemed to have been waiting for someone to take an interest in what they believe was the cause of ailments they have been suffering following exposure to these chemicals.

"It is yet to be established if this is the case," he said.

Mr Littler said that since the issue had been aired by Channel Seven, many more people had contacted the union with their concerns.

"We have collected everyone's names and addresses and we have eight pages of health information but we are racing against time with the State Government due to change its leglisation on October 1."

The health details will be reviewed by the Trades Hall's occupational health and safety officer Dr Helen Sutcliffe.

Mr Littler said that he had also taken soil samples in the area that would be tested for residue of the problem chemicals.

"We could only go down 12 inches, but we should have gone down to a metre, so we will see what comes out of it."

He has invited others with concerns to contact the CFMEU on (03) 9341 3443.

The chemicals 245T and 24D that were used in the Yarram district in the 1970s and 1980s are now banned.

The CFMEU is investigating a possible link between weed spraying in Yarram in the 1970s and 1980s and similar spraying programs in Western Australia and Queensland.

Close to tears

Former Yarram residents Lorna and Kevin **** revealed their anguish at the meeting. Mr Holdsworth was the stationmaster at Yarram. The station grounds were regularly sprayed by the Lands Department.

He was forced to retire at 53 due to illness and has since had his spleen, large bowel and rectum removed.

Mrs **** also believes her daughter lost two babies due to exposure to the chemicals.

Close to tears, Mrs **** recounted her family's pain.

"Kevin is a wonderful person. He's been through hell. Every day he used to say 'Oh, Lord Jesus' and took one day at a time," she said.

The Yarram tennis courts were also a source; the court surrounds were sprayed too. Mr **** was club president and his daughter Dianne played.

"In May 1976, my daughter Diane was playing tennis. She was seven months pregnant. The grass around the tennis court had just been sprayed," Mrs **** said.

"The doctor felt there was something wrong with her baby. An x-ray showed the baby had no brain. The doctor believed the spray caused it."

Dianne also lost her second son. That baby was conceived in Yarram.

"What we have been through has broken our hearts. I had to speak today to get it out of my system," Mrs Holdsworth said.

The couple lived in Yarram between 1971 and 1979.

Mr Littler asked for reports of premature deaths of collegues of nervous system problems.

"245T kills weeds by attacking the nervous system of plants. There is evidence that it does the same to humans," he said.

One man said he returned home from work wearing his work clothes, covered in spray residue and fumes, and walked past tomato plants.

"After a week of doing that, the tomatoes died," he said.

"Sometimes I would go in the pub after work and my mates used to be able to smell the fumes on me.

"We didn't have any protection from these sprays. We only wore bib'n'brace overalls.

"We were very ignorant of the fact that these sprays could be detrimental to our health."

Another man said former employees were due to undergo blood tests every 12 months but said those tests never occurred.

The meeting also heard reports that the chemicals had been known to cause cancer in rats and mice.

Attendees were urged to fill in a medical inventory, noting physical and mental conditions they had.

Results will be compared with those of workers from other states exposed to similar chemicals.

Soil tests were later undertaken at former depot sites and sites of drum disposal.

Woodside resident and former Lands Department employee Tony Cassidy said chemical drums were covered with dirt at the former depertment depot in Station Street, Yarram and at the landfill near Greenmount.

The drums were later crushed by bulldozer and buried.

The CFMEU is assisting with a claim by workers in Derby in WA centring on rogue batches of 245T, which contained dangerously high levels of TCDD, similar to the Agent Orange mixture used during the Vietnam War.

The union believes many drums of the poisonous mix were shipped to Australia between 1969 and 1971 from Singapore, but were labelled incorrectly and could have possibly been used in spraying programs in the Yarram area.

Also attending the day was Andrew Higgins of Slater and Gordon who explained the procedures and legal pitfalls in the process.

Forestry spraying linked to deaths

P17 Courier Mail - January 2, 2002 Glenis Green

Calls for a full inquiry into widespread health problems and deaths linked to the use of the now-banned herbicide 245-T mounted yesterday as more horror stories emerged across Queensland.

Stories of devastating crop damage in Brisbane’s bayside suburbs in the early 1970s have been added to the cases of birth defects, as well as seriously ill and dead workers who had been employed in forestry weed-spraying programs during the same years.

Information gathered by The Courier Mail points to toxic batches of 245-T being sprayed in forestry areas including Byfield, near Yeppoon, the Atherton Tablelands near Cairns; at Beerburrum on the Sunshine Coast; Imbil near Gympie; Yarraman near Kingaroy; and Deception Bay near Brisbane. It also may have been used in cactus eradication at Collinsville, west of Mackay.

The families of at least five dead men believe exposure to a rogue 245-T batch, allegedly imported into Queensland between 1969 and 1971, caused their premature deaths from cancer and associated illnesses.

Fears about 300 tonnes of the fire-damaged batch, used to make the Vietnam War defoliant Agent Orange and imported into Queensland and Western Australia were first raised 20 years ago by Australian National University scientists. They were resurrected when new reports of early deaths and illnesses among herbicide users prompted the West Australian Government to launch a full inquiry last month.

Up to 120 tonnes of 245-T, laced with dioxin more than 200 times the then-legal level, is believed to have made its way into weed-spraying programs in Queensland.

Yeppoon resident Sid Armstrong said this week he remembered the arrival of a particularly heavy and “gluey” batch of 245-T which was to be used to spray undergrowth between trees at Byfield in Central Queensland. Mr Armstrong said the 245-T was usually mixed at the ratio of 11.3 litres to 200 litres of dieseline for spraying, but one batch had been “just gluey muck”.

When we first tried to mix it, it just floated around in big blobs . . . big clots and lumps like ambergris on top. It wouldn’t dissolve and mix,” Mr Armstrong said.

Maureen Fehihaber, of Yeppoon, whose husband George died from cancer at 49 after working with 245-T for about 17 years in the Byfield forests, said he often broke out in huge blisters after using sprays. Margaret Morris, of Redcliffe, said her husband Peter also dies at 49 from a heart attack attributed to an enlarged liver after sparking a campaign to stop Australian Paper Manufacturers using 245-T in aerial sprays on its pine plantations.

A former president of the Redcliffe and Deception Bay Farmers’ Association, Mr Morris had kept meticulous records of the anti-spray campaign until the State Government moved to have 245-T phased out in 1973.

A spokesman for Primary Industries Minister Henry Palaszczuk said this week the department was still trawling records for details of the rogue 245-T batch.

245-T linked to fatalities

p 1The Australian January 5, 2002

Natalie O’Brien

A rogue batch of highly toxic chemicals once probably earmarked to make the defoliant Agent Orange has been linked for the first time to a West Australian government herbicide program blamed for deaths, serious illnesses and birth deformities.

It is feared drums of the potentially deadly batch of 245-T might still be in warehouses around the country. Although suspicious shipments of the chemical from Singapore were uncovered 20 years ago, it has only now been revealed the same chemical is suspected of having been used in a controversial weed spraying program in the Kimberley region, that is now the subject of a West Australian parliamentary inquiry.

Concerns are held that some of the hundreds of drums of the fire damaged batches of 245-T remain unaccounted for and may be stored or dumped elsewhere around Australia. The chemical makes up 50 per cent of Agent Orange, a defoliant herbicide used in Vietnam, and its dioxin impurities have been linked to a range of health problems, including birth defects.

The rogue batches were discovered by Australian National University scientists Ben Selinger and Peter Hall, while investigating rumours that a load of Agent Orange had been dumped in Australia after the Vietnam War.

Professor Selinger said 245-T was rendered more toxic by heat exposure and the suspicious batches imported between 1969 and 1971 were listed as fire damaged and shipped in labeled as another chemical.

Professor Selinger said the black sticky substance reported by workers in the northwest town of Derby were disturbingly similar to the sample he and Professor Hall had tested 20 years ago and found to have dioxin levels 200 times the legal limit at that time. Professor Selinger said the rashes, blisters and burns described by the Derby men were similar to symptoms manifested by workers at the Singaporean factory where the rogue batches of 245-T suffered the damage before being dispatched to Perth and Brisbane. “But only an analysis will confirm their similarity,” he said.

The Perth based company that imported the chemical was a supplier of the state’s Agricultural Protection Board, which gave workers in Derby unmarked drums of chemicals - an illegal practice then and now - to use in a weed control program that ran from about 1975 to 1985. The workers complained about rashes and burns suffered when the chemical leaked. Some later developed serious illnesses and died.

Professors Selinger and Hall published their findings in the 1980s calling on Australian authorities to “make available full details of the exact nature of the suspicious imports”. But despite questions being raised in federal parliament in 1981 and evidence heard by a Senate inquiry that the batch was highly toxic, it appears the whereabouts and possible commercial use of the chemicals went unchecked.It is now believed some of those unmarked drums were dumped in Derby.

Professor Selinger, who has also chaired the National Registration Authority for Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals said he believed the federal Health Department held documented information on the chemical that had not been released. “Governments don’t look for these things unless they are kicked and forced,” he said.

West Australian Agricultural Minister Kim Chance has established a parliamentary inquiry to document the chemical exposures of former Agricultural Protection Board workers who used the chemicals in the Kimberley region. Mr Chance said he also had been told that Agent Orange chemicals were imported into Australia and he fears they may have been used in some form in almost every state and territory. Mr Chance said using 245-T was dangerous even within legal dioxin limits “but if it was outside those speculations as the Senate inquiry evidence indicated, it was suicide’.

P2 The 245-T trail

1969-71: Large import from Singapore of fire damaged chemical listed as KTCP (the starting material used to make 245-T).

1972: Questions raised by competitor about labeling of imports for possible tariff avoidance.

1973: Samples for tariff inquiry believed to confirm fire damage but doesn’t measure dioxins.

1981: Same samples further tested and showed not to contain KTCP but found to be 245-T with illegally high levels of dioxins.

1981: Questions in federal parliament reveal samples did not contain KTCP but 245-T:

1981: Senate Standing Committee told the Department of Primary Industries first reported the chemical conformed to Australian standards but that further tests found it did not. It had dioxin levels 200 times the legal limit.

1982: Weed sprayers for the West Australian Agricultural Protection Board suffering rashes and unexplained illnesses question the safety of the chemical they are using. They are told by government employer it is not dangerous and ‘adverse publicity’ about it (245T) “is not a valid reason for discontinuing use”.

1985: Workers continue to use the unlabelled chemical.

1987: Workers told to dump remaining drums.

2002: State Parliamentary Enquiry called.

P2 Quest to find what killed Carl’s mates

Carl Drysdale kneels by a simple grave in the Derby cemetery and recalls how he lost one of his best mates to a sudden heart attack at the age of 33. The former Agriculture Protection Board worker watched his friend and dozens of others die or suffer unexplained illnesses after working together in a weed spraying program in the remote Kimberley during the 1970s and 80s.

The 56 year-old believes an unusual looking chemical they used is responsible. He’s been fighting 20 years to prove it. “I’m doing this for my mates and their families and kids,” Mr Drysdale said.

Mr Drysdale was a district officer with the board, leading a team of workers spraying weeds across the Kimberley. Many of his men were Aboriginies or itinerant white workers. They suffered side effects from using the chemicals 24-D and the now banned 245T, but it was a batch of unlabelled chemical that has really worried them. They were told it was the usual 245T - but it smelt stronger and looked darker and thicker than previous batches. And that is when their problems really started and people began dying, said Mr Drysdale.

“I asked them if it came from Vietnam” said Mr Drysdale. “I was being off-hand and I dismissed it as I thought noone would do that to people”. But there were other suspicious elements to the arrival of the drums. “There was 20 years supply which is not normal for government supply . . . They usually budget for one year and we got 20 years supply in one go.

And then people started to get sick.” At first, the men suffered rashes, blisters, burns, vomiting, diarrhoea and shocking headaches after using the new batch. Then came unexpected deaths and the workers wives and girlfriends were having multiple miscarriages and giving birth to deformed babies.

Mr Drysdale says he was ‘ as fit as a mallee bull’ before using the chemical, but he has since vomited up blood, lost weight, had his hair fall out in clumps and suffered fainting spells, angina, burns and rashes. One of his collegues was so strong he could throw a full 44 gallon drum on the back of a truck by himself, but he became so debilitated he could not even walk up a flight of stairs to collect his weeks’ pay.

Quiet burial of a Secret Agent The Australian Jan 12 2002.

“ . .He was our supervisor and he came up to Dwellingup to help us with a problem we had fixing a batch of Agent Orange back in 1975,” he says. “It came in 44 gallon drums with no labels, and no instructions.

The former Forest Department had got a special batch in from somewhere, very cheaply we heard.”

Toxic dumping more widespread

P 5 The Australian Jan 15 2002

Australisn history of dumping dangerous chemicals underground is far more widespread and involves more toxic substances than has been revealed in the current Agent Orange scandal, a former Environmental Protection Agency chairman has warned.

Barry Carbon, who has headed the EPA in two states as well as the federal environment agency, told The Australian, there were a lot more chemicals dumped in the late 1970s and early 1980s and it could become an “acute issue”. . . .

West Australian authorities are searching for any remaining stockpiles of the Agent Orange chemical 245T, which was imported between 1969 and 1971 and was believed to have been used by government workers in the Kimberley region and in the southern towns of Dwellingup.

Research by Australian National University professors Ben Selinger and Peter Hall revealed 20 years ago that 300 tonnes of the chemical which is believed to have come from Vietnam, was imported into Western Australia and Queensland. The chemicals were imported under the guise of fire damaged KTCP, the starter chemical to make 245T.

A tip-off to the scientists and subsequent tests showed the chemicals contained no KTCP but were 245T with dioxin poison levels 200 times the recommended levels at the time.

The sister of a former Queensland Forestry worker who died of leukemia has revealed her brother had complained to his family about a “bad batch” of 245T he was using during the mid 1970s. Susan Porter says her brother Dallas Guy said the poison they were using in the Beerwah area was strong and smelly. “He complained about a bad batch . . . they were complaining about the stench . . . but some were rubbing on their skin to keep mozzies away,” she said.

Former Kimberley weed sprayer Carl Drysdale has been lobbying for two decades for an investigation into the strange, sticky, black chemicals they were given to use between 1975 and 1985. Mr Drysdale and his workers believe the chemical has been responsible for a spate of premature deaths illnesses, miscarriages and birth defects.

A ministerial inquiry has been widened to investigate not only the health effects on the workers, but what chemicals were used and if any are still stockpiled in the state.

WA denies damaged agent orange killed workers

October 22, 2004. 7:57 AM (AWST)

The Western Australian Government says it has been absolved of any blame over allegations weed sprayers in the Kimberley in the north-west of the state were equipped with a rogue batch of the defoliant agent orange.

Former agriculture workers claim more than 40 of their colleagues have died because they used a damaged batch of 245-T in the 1970s and 80s.

A parliamentary inquiry has revealed fire-damaged drums of the chemical were imported from Singapore by a Perth company but it could not determine what happened to them.

Agriculture Minister Kim Chance says there remains no evidence the chemical was sold to the Agriculture Department. "Some of it was sold because it was found in a forest department dump," he said. "However, it has never been established that that chemical was used in the Kimberley."

But the Government remains committed to compensating former agricultural workers affected by the weed-spraying program in the Kimberley. Mr Chance says he is not denying the sincerity of the former workers, who blame the chemical for their colleagues' deaths.

"It doesn't remove or change in any way the Government's commitment to trying to correct the situation that exists for those Derby workers who were injured as a result of their employment," he said.

Agent Orange Town

Matthew Benns and Frank Walker May 18, 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

THE Australian Army tested chemical weapons on a town which now has deaths from cancer 10 times the state average.

Military scientists sprayed the toxic defoliant Agent Orange in the jungle that is part of the water catchment area for Innisfail in Queensland's far north at the start of the Vietnam War.

The Sun-Herald last week found the site where military scientists tested Agent Orange in 1966. It is on a ridge little more 100 metres above the Johnstone River, which supplies the drinking water for Innisfail.

Forty years later the site - which abuts farmer Alan Wakeham's land - is still bare, covered only in tough Guinea grass, but surrounded by thick jungle. "It's strange how the jungle comes right up to this site and then just stops. It won't grow any further," Mr Wakeham said.

Agent Orange was sprayed extensively in Vietnam to defoliate the jungle and remove cover for North Vietnamese troops. It contains chemicals including the dioxin TCDD, which causes forms of cancer, birth defects and other health problems.

Researcher Jean Williams found details of the secret Innisfail tests in the Australian War Memorial archives. "These tests carried out between 1964 and 1966 were the first tests of Agent Orange and they were carried out at Gregory Falls near Innisfail," said Ms Williams, who has been awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her work on the effects of chemicals on Vietnam veterans. "I was told there is a high rate of cancer there but no one can understand why. Perhaps now they will understand."

Ms Williams unearthed three boxes of damning files. One file showed the chemicals 2,4-D, Diquat, Tordon and dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) were sprayed on the rainforest in the Gregory Falls area in June 1966. The file carried the remarks: "Considered sensitive because report recommends use of 2,4-D with other agents in aerial spraying trials in Innisfail." Ms Williams said: "It was considered sensitive because they were mixing together all the bad chemicals, which just made them worse. They cause all the cancers."

Ms Williams claims a file which could indicate much wider testing in a project called Operation Desert had gone missing. The contents were marked "too disturbing to ever be released". "Those chemicals stay in the soil for years and every time there is a storm they are stirred up and go into the water supply," Ms Williams said. "The poor people of Innisfail have been kept in the dark about this. But these chemicals cause cancer and deformities that are passed on for generations. It is shocking. I am just an 83-year-old war-weary battler. I don't want any more medals, I just want justice for the people of Innisfail."

Queensland Health Department figures show Innisfail, which has a population of almost 12,000, had 76 people die from cancer in 2005. That is four times the national rate of death from cancer and 10 times the Queensland average. Australian War Memorial director Steve Gower confirmed the file on Operation Desert could not be found.

Australia and Britain opened a joint tropical research unit at Innisfail in 1962. In 1969 the Liberal defence minister Allen Fairhall flatly denied chemical warfare experiments had been associated with the unit at Innisfail. But last week The Sun-Herald found the site and an old digger, a decorated veteran of three wars, who had worked on the experiment.

Innisfail local Ted Bosworth, 86, fought in the New Guinea campaign in World War II, copped a bullet in the lungs in the Korean War for which he was awarded the Military Medal and was in the Army Reserve during the Vietnam War. In 1966 he drove scientists to the site where the spraying occurred. "There was an English scientist and an Australian. I heard they both later died of cancer. "They sprayed by hand. The forest started dying within days. By three weeks all the foliage was gone. The scientists always denied it was Agent Orange. They were pretty cagey."

Mr Bosworth confirmed photos The Sun-Herald took were of the experiment site. "That is the area they sprayed. That is it. It was on top of the ridge next to grassland in the trees. It hasn't changed much in all these years."

Innisfail RSL president Reg Hamann suffers terrible effects from Agent Orange he was exposed to during the Vietnam War. "A lot of my unit have died of cancer. I've got cancer of the oesophagus and stomach. I have to sleep on a special bed that raises me 17 degrees or everything in my stomach rises up. I've had a subdural hemorrhage, a heart attack and a quadruple bypass. "It passes on to the next generation. My son was born with a deformed lung. My daughter has got the same skin problem I have from Agent Orange. Now my grandkids are going to get it."

Mr Hamann is angry at the lies and deceit about the effects of Agent Orange on veterans and their families. Now he's discovered that while he was fighting in Vietnam the Australian government was experimenting with Agent Orange upriver from his home town.

"We were sprayed regularly by Agent Orange as they cleared the river banks. We had no idea how dangerous the stuff was. They'd fly over us and give us a squirt just for fun and wiggle their wings. We took it as a joke. But the stuff turned out to be a curse."

"I saw in Vietnam what Agent Orange did to an area and I am shocked to learn they used it here. It was kept secret. The army didn't tell anyone. It was just some of the old army guys and local farmers who knew they were experimenting up there. "I believe it must have something to do with the high cancer rates in Innisfail. The amount of young people in this area who die of leukaemia and similar cancers to what I got from Agent Orange is scary. The authorities are scared of digging into it as there would be lots of law suits.

"The sad part is the number of kids who get cancer here. It's been that way at least since I came here in 1970. That means it can't be chemical spraying on the bananas as they only came here 15 years ago. "They've always used Innisfail as guinea pigs. They did it in World War II and they did it during Vietnam. It's time to set it right."

Val Robertson, 74, said a high number of local people aged in their 40s were dying from cancer, about one a month for the last 12 months. "That's a lot for a small town like Innisfail. They would have been babies when they were spraying Agent Orange," she said. Innisfail Mayor Bill Shannon said there was a high cancer rate in the area and there should be a full investigation. The Queensland Government and the Federal Government said they would look into the issue.

Incomplete text (below)

Cluster of birthabnormalities occurring at Yarram in Victoria (1975-76).

Consultative Council on Congenital Abnormalities in the Yarram District. Victorian Government.

On 21 March 1978 the Consultative Council was established to inquire into the alleged relationship of congenital abnormalities in the Yarram district of Victoria in 1975-76 to the use of phenoxyacetic acid herbicides 2,4-D & 2,4,5-T in that district in 1974. Investigations into 4 perinatal deaths with birth defects amongst 93 deliveries during 75/76, 2 cases spina bifida, one of anencephalus and one of renal agenesis, 2 stillbirths at 22 weeks and 27 weeks gestation, a living child with phocomelia born in December 1975, a baby who died in May 1978 with cystic hygroma in the neck.

p3 ". . . 24-D and 2,4,5-T have been widespread in many parts of Victoria for more than 25 years . . . both chemicals have been used at Yarram ( and in the rest if Gippsland and the Otway Ranges) for controlling weeds since 1950 . . . The main uses of 24-D and 2,4,5-T in areas such as Yarram are the Department of Crown Lands and Survey and local farmers. Lesser amounts are used by the Forests Commission and forestry companies . . ."

CONCLUSIONS

1. The cluster of babies with birth defects born in Yarram in 1975-76 was not such as to suggest that a specific local cause was operative.

2. Analysis of all information available showed no evidence that these birth defects were caused by exposure to 24-D or 2,4,5,-T.

3. The normal agricultural use of 24-D and 2,4,5-T has not been shown to cause birth abnormalities in domestic animals nor is there evidence to connect such use with human birth abnormalities.

4. Victoria lacks organised research on the epidemiology of birth defects and lacks an adequate system of surveillance of those birth defects which are not rapidly lethal.

APPENDIX 2

THE CHEMISTRY, TOXICOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL FATE OF THE HERBICIDES 2,4-D AND 2,4,5-T AND OF TCDD

The chlorinated phenoxyacetic acid herbicides 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T were developed in the 1940s. Since that time they have been used world-wide to control weeds in both food and non-food situations. They have been noted for their efficacy as herbicides and their low animal toxicity.

During the Vietnam War they were widely used as defoliants, and in the emotive situation which arose they received a great deal of adverse publicity. Criticism over their use in the war situation also led to questions regarding their agricultural uses. This resulted in a number of expert committees being set up to reconsider their use in agricultural practice. A further stimulus to these investigations arose from the fact that an impurity in commercial samples of 2,4,5-T and the dioxin 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibezodioxin (TCDD), was found to be an extremely toxic agent which produced teratogenic effects in some laboratory animals.

The literature on 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T and TCDD is very extensive. A recent selected bibliography issued by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (Diaz-Colon & Bovey 1978) lists more than 2,000 references concerned with the toxicity, fate in the environment, and ecological impact of the compounds.

Extensive reviews and reports on these herbicides, and on TCDD, have been studied by the Consultative Council. . .

(a) Use of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in Australia

Since the early 1950s, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T have become the most widely used herbicides in Australia and annual usage at present is about 2,500 tonnes of 2,4-D and 250 tonnes of 2,4,5-T. 2,4-D is used mainly for the control of annual and perennial broadleaf weeds in cereal crops and pastures, and on roadsides and in other non-crop situations: 2,4,5-T is used to control mainly woody plants such as blackberries, gorse and eucalypts. Of the 96 plants which are proclaimed as noxious weeds in Victoria, 2,4-D is recommended for the control of 49, and 2,4,5-T for the control of 13. 2,4,5-T is not used for weed control in food crops in Victoria.

The use patterns in Victoria are in accord with the recommendations of the National Health and Medical Research Council, and maximum permitted residue levels have been set for various food crops and water with respect to 2,4-D, and for water with respect to 2,4,5-T. Regular sampling shows that 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T do not occur in food or water supplies in Victoria.

Both 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T have now been used in Victoria for almost 30 years with no known detrimental effects on the health of the general public. They have a similar safety record overseas when used as aids to agricultural production. Any adverse effects which have been reported are concerned with personnel involved in the production or agricultural use of these compounds.

(b) Formulations of 2,4-D and 2,4,5_T 2,4-D is formulated as an amine salt (generally containing the equivalent of 500g of 2,4-D acid per litre) or as an emulsifiable ester (generally containing the equivalent of either 400 or 800g of 2,4-D acid per litre); whilst 2,4,5-T is formulated as an emulsifiable ester (generally containing the equivalent of either 400 or 800g of 2,4,5-T acid per litre).

Virtually all the 2,4-D acid used in Australia is manufactured in this country, whilst about 90% of the 2,4,5-T acid used for formulating the 2,4,5-T products used in Victoria is imported from overseas. Practically no formulated 2,4-D or 2,4,5-T is imported to Australia.

( c) The contaminant TCDD

Studies in the late 1960s in U.S.A., involving administration of 2,4,5-T to some pregnant rodents, showed an increase in the rate of congenital abnormalities in the resultant young. The principal cause of these abnormalities was subsequently shown to be the dioxin contaminant TCDD which occurred in the sample of 2,4,5-T used in these studies at a concentration of approximately 27ppm. Much research has since been carried out on the effect of TCDD on the developing young of experimental animals and it is now known that this chemical may cause congenital abnormalities in the young of rodents and birds. The most common abnormalities occurring are cleft palate and kidney anomalies.

As well as being teratogenic (causing congenital abnormalities), TCDD is an extremely toxic chemical, being about 5,000 to 500,000 times as toxic as 2,4,5-T.

Because of these undesirable properties of TCDD, governments in most countries of the world have set maximum limits on the amount of TCDD which may legally occur in 2,4,5-T. The legal limit in Australia has been recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council at 0.1 ppm of TCDD in 2,4,5-T acid, and this limit has been included in the appropriate Australian standard. This is the same limit as currently imposed in many other countries including Denmark, New Zealand and U.S.A.

Tests are made by the Australian Government Analytical Laboratory in Sydney on behalf of the Victorian Department of Agriculture on the level of TCDD occurring in the 2,4,5-T ester offered for sale in Victoria and over the past two years the average TCDD level has been 0.06 ppm.

Similar results have been obtained with samples collected in other States, and apply to both locally produced and imported 2,4,5-T acid.

It is noted that one sample reported on in Victoria in 1977 contained 0.2 ppm of TCDD in the formulation. No other sample has exceeded this figure.

TCDD is formed when tetrachlorbenzene is reacted with alkaline methanol to form 2,4,5-trichlorphenol, one of the raw materials used in the manufacture of 2,4,5-T. If temperature and pressure are not carefully controlled at this stage of manufacture relatively large amounts of TCDD can be formed. A small quantity of TCDD produced in normal manufacture is largely stripped out at the next stage of the process. In the 1950s when manufacturing processes used in the production of 2,4,5-trichlorphenol were less well controlled, the concentrations of TCDD in commercial 2,4,5-T varied widely and concentrations of up to 50 ppm occurred in some samples. However, at present all formulators of 2,4,5-T in Australia use 2,4,5-trichlorphenol from not more than three sources, each of which maintains careful control of the product, and enables manufacturers to guarantee levels of less than 0.1 ppm in 2,4,5-T. Samples of 2,4,5-T now produced by industry can be shown to regularly contain less than 0.6 ppm of TCDD.

2,4-D is manufactured by a different process and no TCDD is produced in its manufacture.

During the discussions of the Consultative Council several further points were raised with respect to TCDD contamination of 2,4,5-T. The first concerned the possibility that old stocks of { } used in the Yarram area during 1975-76. This possibility was considered unlikely by the Victorian Department of Crown Lands and Survey and the Pesticides Co-ordinator of the Australian Department of Primary Industry, who pointed out that the herbicide was bought on a year to year basis for use within a given season. Furthermore, on at least two occasions in recent years, there has been an acute shortage of the chemical because benzene has been unavailable due to the oil crisis and demand has exceeded supply by a large margin. While all these reasons do not entirely eliminate the possibility of old stock having been available in the Yarram area, the probability is that all old stock would have been used prior to the period in question.

The second point concerned the possibility of 2,4,5-T being converted to TCDD during storage or after being sprayed onto vegetation. Another point was the question of whether TCDD was produced when plants treated with 2,4,5-T were burned.

In the former cases the three requirements for TCDD production (a high concentration of the correct reactants, high temperature and high pressure) are absent. In the latter case, tests have shown that deliberate burning of materials sprayed with 2,4,5-T does not give rise to significant TCDD production, indeed, at high (flame) temperature TCDD itself is decomposed. . .

APPENDIX 4

THE USE OF 2,4-D AND 2,4,5-T IN THE YARRAM AREA

Two of the most important noxious weeds in the Yarram area are ragwort and blackberries. There is nothing unusual about Yarram in this respect as these two weeds are major problems in the whole of South Gippsland and the Otway Ranges.

2,4-D is a recommended herbicide for controlling ragwort and 2,4,5-T is recommended for the treatment of blackberries. These two materials have been used at Yarram (and in the rest of Gippsland and the Otway Ranges) for controlling these weeds since about 1950.

For the control of ragwort, 2,4-D is applied usually with a boom spray at a rate of 2.25kg ai (active ingredient) per ha or with a spot spray unit delivering a 0.2% mixture of 2,4-D in water. Some areas are also treated by backpack misting machines and by aircraft. Most application is made from September to January.

Most of the application of 2,4,5-T to blackberry is made with spot spraying units delivering a 0.067% mixture or 2,4,5-T in water. Occasionally applications are made by misting machines and by aircraft. Most application is made from December to April. These materials are used by:-

(a) the Department of Crown Lands and Survey for control mostly on non-private lands but also on some private land on a “contract basis;

(b) the Forests Commission in some forest areas; and

(c) private landholders (including forestry companies).

Figures on total use in a particular area such as Yarram are not readily available because of the lack of data on usage by private landholders.

However, the Consultative Council was able to obtain information which it believes gives a reasonably accurate picture of total usage in the Yarram area in 1974, 1975 and 1976. This is presented in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Estimated total use (kg ai) of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in the Yarram area in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

1974: 2,4-D 5710. 2,4,5-T 1290

1975: 2,4-D 4590. 2,4,5-T 1630

1976: 2,4-D 2790. 2,4,5-T 1390

The Department of Crown Lands and Survey is the largest single user of these herbicides in areas such as Yarram, probably accounting for some 60 to 75% of total usage. Figures supplied by the Department of its usage from 1971 to 1977 (Table 2) can thus be taken as showing the overall trend in use during this period.

TABLE 2 Herbicide (kg ai) use by Department of Crown Lands and Survey in the Yarram area from 1971 to 1977.

Year 2,4-D 2,4,5-T

1971 2399 1080

1972 3453 1331

1973 3558 1127

1974 3636 752

1975 3392 1226

1976 1882 848

1977 2682 729

Mean 2986 1013

Use varies from year to year due to climatic conditions e.g. weed growth is retarded in dry years and less spraying than normal is carried out; also less spraying is done during extended periods of wet weather.

The data collected by the Consultative Council showed that there was nothing unusual about the amounts of 2,4,-D or 2,4,5-T used in the Yarram area in 1975 or 1976 compared to other years. It was noted that aerial application of both materials was greater in 1974 than in 1975 or 1976; this was contrary to press reports which claimed “massive” aerial application in 1975. In fact, only 12% of the 2,4-D and 3% of the 2,4,5-T were applied by aircraft in the Yarram area in 1975.

Yarram Abnormalities and unresolved historical issues concerning 2,4,5-T

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For more detailed information on the dangers of 2,4,5-T including details of spray programs conducted in Gippsland during the 1970's; click here.

Please note that large volumes of 2,4,5-T were also used for weed control on Crown Land and private property during this period.

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