Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP). 12/9/2026
Dear Ms Burgess,Mr Robinson, Mr Moran and Chemicals and Atmosphere Branch,
How can the potential intergenerational human-health effects of paternal TCDD (dioxin) exposure through Agent Orange during the Vietnam War be formally brought before the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution (ISP-CWP)?
I am the daughter of an Australian Army Plant Operator who served in Vietnam in 1969–70. I identify as an Agent Orange child and have spent the past two years tracing Australian and international evidence concerning the health of Vietnam veterans’ descendants.
I have attached my father’s Australian Army service record and my birth certificate to document both his Vietnam service and my direct relationship to him.
I am writing to you because you are Australia’s National Focal Point for the ISP-CWP.
A significant Australian evidence gap already exists.
The Australian Government’s Vietnam Veterans Family Study collected physical-health data from the sons and daughters of Vietnam veterans. Physical conditions were specifically captured in the study instruments, including Appendix 7. However, when the major findings were published in 2014, the analysis of veterans’ offspring focused predominantly on mental health and wellbeing, while the collected physical-health data were not comprehensively analysed and reported as offspring physical-health outcomes.
The study also collected information concerning veterans’ perceived or “confirmed” Agent Orange exposure, yet the published material did not establish a comprehensive analysis linking objectively characterised paternal TCDD exposure with the physical-health outcomes collected from their children.
In 2023, UN Special Rapporteur Marcos Orellana and Professor Bethanie Carney Almroth published Conflicts of Interest in the Assessment of Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution. Their paper examined the manufacture of scientific doubt and the importance of protecting independent chemical assessment from conflicts of interest.
Australia’s own 2023 submission during development of the international Panel called for scientific integrity, transparency and independence and specifically identified “intergenerational equity” as a consideration.
In June 2026, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs updated its official history of Agent Orange and other chemicals in the Vietnam War. DVA now records that during the 1984–85 Royal Commission, the Australian Government and Monsanto funded the defence of Agent Orange, while the Vietnam veterans ultimately ran out of money to continue their case.
This historical context is particularly relevant given the 2023 Orellana and Carney Almroth paper’s examination of conflicts of interest and the manufacture of scientific doubt in chemicals and pollution governance.
I would therefore like to know:
Can the intergenerational effects of historical TCDD exposure be considered within the ISP-CWP’s mandate, including through horizon scanning or its future work programme?
What is the formal process for submitting this evidence through Australia’s National Focal Point?
Would Australia consider putting this unresolved evidence gap forward for international scientific assessment?
I am not asking the Panel to determine individual causation or compensation. I am asking how an unresolved scientific question involving collected Australian physical-health data, historical TCDD exposure and potential intergenerational effects can be formally placed before the international body established to assess chemical pollution and human-health knowledge gaps.
I would appreciate a written response identifying the appropriate pathway.
Supporting Evidence and Australian Government Sources ⬇️
OECD Final Statement
Warm Agent Orange Burns regards,
Danielle Stevens
Geneva AP1 Article 77
Phone 0411838xxx
We will always be a child of a Vietnam Veteran
A formal complaint has been lodged with the International Criminal Court for Crimes against Humanity. The final submission was the 1st of July 2025.
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