Defoliants

Defoliants are chemicals which cause plants to lose their leaves artificially; often used in agricultural practices for weed control, and may have detrimental impacts on human and ecosystem health. In recent times, they have had controversial uses in war, such as the United States' use of 'Agent Orange' in the Vietnam War to defoliate dense jungle. In the aftermath of the war, it has been claimed that many health problems, such as birth mutations, have occurred in the Vietnamese population, as a result of the use of Agent Orange.