Vietnamese ignore health risks, catch fish from dioxin-polluted lakes for sale
Fish buyers never know that fish may have been caught illegally, from lakes heavily contaminated by extremely dangerous chemicals.
Bien Hoa airbase, which is around 30 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, is one of the sites with the severest and longest lasting dioxin pollution in the world. During the Vietnam War, the US stored a huge amount of toxic compounds including Agent Orange, Agent White, and Agent Blue there to use as defoliants and clear the forests to attack Vietnamese revolutionary forces.
Locals who live near the area said strangers from other provinces have continued catching fish there for around three or four years despite notices warning that the lakes are polluted and eating anything from them will endanger one’s health. Locals said they are highly aware of the danger, but people coming from other places just overlook the risks.
