Agent Orange is a herbicide recognized for its use during the Vietnam War. It is composed of equal parts of two chemicals: 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. A less potent form of the herbicide has also been used for clearing heavy growth on a commercial basis for a number of years. However, it does not contain 2,4-D. On a commercial level, the herbicide was used in forestry control as early as the 1930s. In the 1950s through the 1960s, Agent Orange was also exported. For example, New Brunswick, Canada, was the scene of major Agent Orange spraying to control forests for industrial development. In Malaysia in the 1950s, the British used compounds with the chemical mixture 2,4,5-T to clear communication routes.

In the United States, herbicides were considered for military use towards the end of World War II, during the action in the Pacific. However, the first American...