Radiation Exposure: Fast Facts About Thyroid Cancer and Other Health Risks (milk) [View All]

[LoZoccolo]

Dr. Brenner said the iodine pills were protective, but were "a bit of a myth" because their use is based on the belief that the risk is from inhaling radioactive iodine. Actually, he said, 98 percent of people's exposure comes from milk and other dairy products.

"The way radioactive iodine gets into human beings is an indirect route," he said. "It falls to the ground, cows eat it and make milk with radioactive iodine, and you get it from drinking the milk. You get very little from inhaling it. The way to prevent it is just to stop people from drinking the milk." He said that the epidemic of thyroid cancer around Chernobyl could have been prevented if the government had immediately stopped people from drinking milk.

Crops can also be contaminated. "I wouldn't be eating an apple from a tree close to the plant," Dr. Brenner said.

http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/14/radiation-exposure-fast-facts-about-thyroid-cancer-and-other-health-risks/