Chemical weapons of the Vietnam War, which ended 49 years ago
QUESTION 1
During the war, U.S. forces used X, substances that, when applied to a plant, cause its leaves to fall o . The U.S. sprayed X en masse over forests to deprive North Vietnamese forces of foliage cover. What is X?
QUESTION 2
The most infamous example of X (from Q1) used during the war was called Y. It’s a mixture of two compounds called 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D in a 1:1 ratio. After the war, more than a million people in Vietnam were estimated to have developed major illnesses due to exposure to Y. Name Y.
QUESTION 3
Britain was the first country to use X (from Q1) as a weapon of war, during the Malayan Emergency. It prepared a substance nearly identical to Y (from Q2) but in a way that also contained a toxin called Z. Z was the culprit in the Seveso disaster of 1976. Name Z.
QUESTION 4
Alongside Y (from Q2), the U.S. developed a mixture of cacodylic acid, sodium cacodylate, and water to destroy ____ plants. These plants were otherwise very di icult to destroy, even with fire. The mixture killed these plants by dehydrating them. Fill in the blank.
The use of this substance has been banned against civilian populations since 1980, but its use a ected civilians during the Vietnam War. Its e ects were the subject of a famous photo taken in 1972 by Nick Ut. It burns, spreads easily, and sticks to surfaces. Name it.
1. Value of a dodrant –
2. Name in Urdu for the number 1 followed by 11 zeroes –
3. Name in Tamil for the number 1 lakh lakh crore –
4. Name for a number worth 10,000 – 5. Name of a quadrillion on the long scale –
Visual:
First contact: Brahanya Sankar | Rajmohan V. | Sahil Tukdi | Shiva Nigam | Muhammed Shahid