Risk and Responsibility in Chemical Research: The Case of Agent Orange

The synthesis of new chemical substances causes a number of ethical problems frequently overlooked by chemists, such as the risk associated with the creation of a new substance and the question of ultimate responsibility for a new compound. The case of the synthesis and subsequent use of Agent Orange can be used to exemplify these issues. Risk as well as responsibility for the agent have shifted significantly since its discovery, from the original inventor of a new compound, via the industrial manufacturer of a dioxin-contaminated herbicide, to the user of the impure agent as tactical chemical weapon in Vietnam. Analyzing the chain of historical events in the light of moral responsibility allows us to set everyday chemistry into an ethical context and ask a number of important questions, such as who carries responsibility for a new chemical compound, its safety and its proliferation.