***UPDATE***
OK, we’ve got some new information here, which is different from what the California Department of Public Health told us a little while ago: U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin told media she supports the idea of buying potassium iodide as a “precaution.”
Here’s a quote from an NBC Bay Area news story: “Dr. Benjamin said although she wasn’t aware of people stocking up, she did not think that would be an overreaction. She said it was right to be prepared.”
Here’s the original story:
Evidently, folks in the Bay Area are worried that the ongoing nuclear problem in Japan could cause a health hazard in San Francisco, which lies about 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Japan’s damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. We phoned several Whole Foods stores in San Francisco to find out if potassium iodide was flying off the shelves, and sure enough, it was the same story at every location.
“We’re all sold out,” one customer service representative said. “Too many people are asking me about this stuff,” said another. Three Whole Foods locations were out of the product, and a fourth didn’t carry it but was all out of kelp, which is also believed to protect the thyroid against radiation exposure.
Our rather unscientific poll seems to reflect the situation in other locations — several national news reports noted that drugstore sales of potassium iodide had increased dramatically.
Are people overreacting? Health officials seem to think so, particularly if they’re ingesting it. “Potassium iodide tablets are not recommended at this time,” said California Department of Public Health spokesperson Ken August. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently issued a statement indicating that at present, Japan’s nuclear emergency presents no risk to California. “Because there is no indication of any type of radiation exposure as a result of the nuclear power plant problem in Japan, people would be ill-advised to take potassium iodide,” August said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, potassium iodide is a salt of stable (not radioactive) iodine, a chemical that the body uses to make thyroid hormones. If radioactive iodine is inhaled or ingested into the body following a nuclear emergency, the thyroid absorbs it, which can lead to serious health problems such as cancer in the long-term. Potassium iodide can block radioactive iodine from entering the thyroid, according to the CDC, but it cannot prevent radioactive material from entering the body.
August noted that taking potassium iodide could cause health problems for people with allergies to iodine or shellfish, or for people with thyroid problems. “They could have an undiagnosed health condition,” he added. The CDC also notes that taking it can cause side effects such as intestinal upset and rashes, and that it could pose risks to people with certain kinds of skin disorders. Ingesting very high dosages of the stuff can kill you, the CDC warns.
So there you have the risks. For people who are going to take it anyway, it’s probably a good idea to read up on it.
And if a worst-case scenario ever did come to pass? August said that evacuation was the first step that officials would take if there were a serious risk of radiation exposure, and he noted that opting to stay put and take potassium iodide in that scenario would increase health risks, since it only guards against injury to the thyroid gland. The state’s Department of Public Health website notes that California does keep a supply of potassium iodide tablets for emergencies — but only for the area around the San Onofre nuclear power plant in Southern California.
August said air monitoring is conducted in 10 locations throughout California to determine atmospheric levels of radiation, on a weekly basis. He said monitoring of food, water, and ambient radiation is also conducted, on a monthly basis.