The United States military used much more Agent Orange and other defoliant spray during the Vietnam war than previously thought, scientists say.

A new study of US military records also found that the amount of cancer-causing dioxin chemicals in the spray has been seriously underestimated.

The report, commissioned by the US Government, is the culmination of a five-year project by environmental health experts at New York's Columbia University.

Between 1961 and 1971, the US military sprayed parts of southern Vietnam with defoliant chemicals - such as Agent Orange - with the aim of allowing the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies to spot Vietcong forces moving in the forests.

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