Members of the Viet Now DeKalb County Chapter learned of a new method of detecting dioxin levels in blood Saturday. Dioxin is the substance found in Agent Orange, a chemical used to defoliate jungles in Vietnam.

Agent Orange is a leading cause of many diseases plaguing veterans of the war.

William Lewis of the New Jersey Agent Orange Commission said testing for dioxin was conducted previously by testing fatty tissues. He said the biopsy of fatty tissue is costly and painful.

“The patient is hospitalized, receives anesthesia and significant amounts of fat are surgically removed,” he said.

The commission can reduce cost and pain by testing blood on an outpatient basis. Lewis said the process involves taking a pint of blood from the patient, freezing it and breaking it down.

The blood is sent to the University of Umea in Sweden, one of two places in the world that can conduct the dioxin blood testing.

In 1984, the commission began an experiment to find out if it was possibile to detect dioxin through blood tesing.

“In September of 1986, we sent one pint of blood per person (for 27 people) and found that the ranchhands who sprayed the Agent Orange had 10 times more dioxin than those with minimum or non-exposure,” he said.

Veterans who worked on the riverboats also were tested because a lot of defoliation occurred along the riverways of Vietnam. “These people had severe health problems,” Lewis said.

“The experiment was a breakthrough for three reasons. First, we detected dioxin; second, it was found in blood; and third, up to that point the federal government denied any level of dioxin,” Lewis said.

He said although the federal government does not believe Agent Orange is a vital factor in dioxin levels of veterans, the tests proved otherwise. He said the government does not want to recognize the damage it has done.

The manifestation of the dioxin has not been fully determined, but experts say some effects include skin conditions, liver disfunctions, cancers, birth defects and allergies.

“We just do not know what it (the chemical) does specifically,” Lewis said.

He said the research shows the dioxin specifically comes from the Agent Orange sprayed in Vietnam. “We have the ‘fingerprint’ of Agent Orange, we know what it looks like.”

Lewis cited a study at Southern Illinois University of children who were perceptually and neurologically impaired. He said the only correlation the students had was parents who were veterans.

Documents show 11 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed in Vietnam, yet only recently did the federal government disclose information as to how much was produced, Lewis said.

It is very difficult to know if someone has been exposed because records of defoliation have been lost, he said.

Lewis said, “Chances are if you worked near a riverbank, you were exposed because a lot of defoliation took place there.”

The New Jersey Agent Orange Commission is vital because it is the only state other than Massachusetts conducting any Agent Orange research, he said. “There are a lot of things we just don’t know,” Lewis said.

He said the problem with a state agency is the commission cannot take donations. “We are at the mercy of the legislature,” Lewis said.

Lewis said Agent Orange research is vital, not only to the veterans, but to children as well. “If I have a fatal illness, there is nothing I can do, but what about my children? No one has the right to harm them,” he said.

Research is slow because of a lack of funds, but with the help of veterans, Lewis said more research commissions can evolve.