Japan and Potassium Iodide

Radiation and Potassium Iodide Dr. Stuart B. Weiss   Information UPDATE March 16, 2011  SUBSCRIBE: Click button at bottom or send email to: sbw1@MedPrepGroup.com People on the west coast of the US and Canada are snapping up Potassium Iodide pills and solutions, should you? We haven't sent out a general mailing to this list in over a year but I thought now might be a good time due to the ongoing events in Japan and the fear it is causing in the US and Canada.     Current Situation summary: All four reactors at the Fukushima Daiini facility are shut down safely and cooling operations are being maintained. The problems are at the Fukushima Daiichi facility. Restoration of electrical power to the site was under way as of 6:00 a.m. EDT today. Off-site electrical power has not been available at the site since the earthquake on March 11. Reactors 1, 2 and 3 at the plant are being cooled with seawater mixed with Boron. There is some level of uranium fuel damage at all three units, and containment structure damage is suspected at reactor 2. Before the earthquake, reactor 4 had been in maintenance mode and was completely defueled. Attempts to provide cooling water to the used fuel pool at reactor 4 by helicopter were not successful. Preparations are being made to inject water into the fuel storage pool using a high-capacity spray pump. There have been two fires inside the reactor containment building at reactor 4, but they have been extinguished. Although the reactor containment building at Unit 4 was damaged, the primary containment vessel remains intact. According to Reuters, the United States is urging its citizens within 80 kilometers (50 miles) of Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plants to evacuate or remain indoors. The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo had previously recommended U.S. citizens to take similar action if they were within 50 kilometers of the facilities. The United Kingdom is also urging its nationals in Tokyo and north of Tokyo to leave the area. Radiation levels in Tokyo, 150 miles to the south, are elevated but still below levels considered dangerous to human health. The situation is still unstable and evolving in the Fukushima Daiichi facility. There has been a spike in purchases of Potassium Iodide (KI) pills and solution (SSKI) in communities in the West Coast of the US and Canada as reported in multiple media sources.  ANALYSIS:    The situation in Japan continues to evolve and our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan as they go through this difficult crisis. I want to focus on the issue of the radiation risk to people in the US and the use of Potassium Iodide. With 5000 miles of ocean separating the US and Japan, the risk of ANY significant amount of radiation coming to the US from Japan is almost zero. Something extremely bad (i.e. a huge prolonged radioactive material release) would have to occur and even then, the risk is still low. We are exposed to radiation everyday in our normal lives from our environment, it is a part of living on Earth and our bodies cope with this low level of radiation. So while it is understandable that people would be apprehensive about something like radiation which you cant see, smell or taste, the fear that people in the US would be affected is unfounded right now. So what does Potassium Iodide have to do with this? One of the early materials that is released from a reactor accident is radioactive Iodine. This material gets into the air, food or water and can be absorbed by our body. Once inside our body, the Iodine is absorbed by the thyroid gland and sits there causing thyroid damage and thyroid cancer. Our thyroid gland absorbs Iodine all the time to make thyroid hormone and it can't tell the difference between normal Iodine and radioactive Iodine. So the idea of Potassium Iodide is to "fill up" the thyroid with normal Iodine so it doesn't want to absorb any more Iodine that comes into our body (radioactive or normal). You have to fill it up quickly which is why people have to take Potassium Iodide within several hours of a reactor accident. Potassium Iodide only protects the thyroid gland and nothing else so if you are exposed to huge doses of radiation, you would still get sick. Potassium Iodide has side effects like any other medication. In a nuclear emergency, the benefits of taking it outweigh the risk of any possible side effects. In the US right now, there is NO RADIATION RISK from Japan so the benefits of taking it are zero and risks of side effects are still there. Side effects range from mild stomach upset to life threatening allergic reactions. You are also susceptible to thyroid problems. That is why people in the US should not be taking Potassium Iodide unless prescribed by a doctor for another problem. So the bottom line is if you want to buy Potassium Iodide to keep in your home, go ahead. It is an over-the-counter medication in the US. But don't take it unless advised to by public health and keep it and all medications away from young children. Don't spend hundreds of dollars on buying it either, there is no crisis in the US (some media are reporting price gouging for Potassium Iodide, it is a cheap medication). Lastly, this does not apply to any employees or families in Japan. Depending on where they live and how old they are, recommendations are different and they should be following the local public health guidance. ADVICE: So here is my advice to you at this point: Make sure that someone keeps watching this situation.  Discourage your employees from buying and taking Potassium Iodide at this time. Consider publishing some information for your employees. The CDC has good information on Potassium Iodide.        MedPrep Consulting Group is internationally recognized as a leader in pandemic, disaster and business continuity planning, training and exercising.     Stuart Weiss, MD, CBCP is the CEO of MedPrep Consulting Group. For more information, visit www.MedPrepGroup.com Stuart Weiss, MD, CBCP MedPrep Consulting Group LLC