Radiation worries

[sellitman]

My brother who works in a Hospital for Homeland Security sent this out to our immediate family. Since I consider most of you the same I thought I would pass this along.

Since this is what I do for work:

We all hope things work out better, but it looks really bad at this point. With radiation being emitted from the Nuclear reactor on a continuous basis and that going into the atmosphere it is only a matter of time before some low level radiation comes to the US. To prepare for this I would recommend some things that may become in short supply or already have:

I cannot seem to find any supply of commercial KI potassium Iodide. So you could also use a multi mineral vitamin that would have 100% Iodine USRDA 150 MCG. This would reduce or eliminate your body from absorbing excess Iodine from inhalation or ingestion. If you take the 100% or maybe double that, it should work well. In addition a vitamin high in minerals like CA, MG and other minerals could also help since there are some mineral bound particles depending on the melt down type.

You can get this still at any drugstore or supermarket.

The other issue is the milk products contamination. This will take some time to get into the food chain (probably a few weeks after radioactive rain or clouds). So I would recommend monitoring the news on any levels and stockpiling some powdered milk product and or milk in boxes that do not need refrigeration. Also you can substitute soy milk. The idea behind this is that radiation will bio-accumulate up the food chain, so cows milk might be back up to a level that is higher. Remember when Dad had us not drinking milks for 6 weeks after the Chinese Above ground nuclear test in 1977 I think. That was a good idea. The media will of course play down any of the above ideas as panic or hurting the food industry but this is really important especially for children more than adults. Of course cheeses and other milk products should also be eliminated from your diet if this radiation does reach us.

Depending on how long the radiation continues to be emitted and how far into the air it goes will be key to knowing how unsafe this is. Chernobyl went 30,000 feet into the air and thus was spread across Russia and Europe at high levels. Hopefully this will not be that high since a uncontrolled fire is not as bad, as of yet. We will have to see.

There has been a run on geiger counters and KI pills but if you can find those items I would recommend a purchase. The geiger counters I have seen for under 300.00 and do need calibration every year, but I am planning on buying one as soon as I can get hold of one. Otherwise trust the Government......and we all know that is something that you should not do!

If you have any other questions please let me know. I do monitor the info sites pretty well and have a few government connections.

[TheWraith]

1. Iodine fallout cannot travel ten thousand miles across the planet.

To say anything else is simply mistaken. There will in no way be any substantial dose of radiation arriving in the US. Period. You might as well worry getting smoke inhalation. from Chinese coal-fired power plants.

Secondly, potassium iodide is grossly overrated as a protective agent. It really does little to nothing.

[sudopod]

5. + a brazillion nt

[Paradoxical]

10. Actually, potassium iodide is underrated as a protective agent.

And was used in large quantities following several nuclear accidents.

It will not protect the rest of your body. But it will protect your thyroid from the uptake of radioactive iodine. And the future risk of thyroid cancer should most certainly be calculated into the risk associated with this accident.

[Mojorabbit]

26. It seems to work well

I can't find it again but from wikipedia
"Following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster in April, 1986, a saturated solution of potassium iodide (SSKI) was administered to 10.5 million children and 7 million adults in Poland<26> as a prophylactic measure against accumulation of radioactive iodine-131 in the thyroid gland. People in the areas immediately surrounding Chernobyl itself, however, were not given the supplement.<27>

Potassium iodide’s (KI) value as a radiation protective (thyroid blocking) agent was demonstrated at the time of the Chernobyl nuclear accident when Soviet authorities distributed it in a 30 km zone around the plant. The purpose was to protect residents from radioactive iodine, a highly carcinogenic material found in nuclear reactors which had been released by the damaged reactor. Only a limited amount of KI was available, but those who received it were protected. Later, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reported, “thousands of measurements of I-131 (radioactive iodine) activity...suggest that the observed levels were lower than would have been expected had this prophylactic measure not been taken. The use of KI...was credited with permissible iodine content in 97% of the evacuees tested.”<28>

Poland, 300 miles from Chernobyl, also distributed KI to protect its population. Approximately 18 million doses were distributed, with follow-up studies showing no known thyroid cancer among KI recipients.<29> With the passage of time, people living in irradiated areas where KI was not available have developed thyroid cancer at epidemic levels, which is why the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported “The data clearly demonstrate the risks of thyroid radiation...KI can be used provide safe and effective protection against thyroid cancer caused by irradiation.<30>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_iodide#Thyroid_protection_due_to_nuclear_accidents_and_emergencies

It seems it does what it is prescribed to do very well.
Edited my subject line because I should not be posting while I have the flu and am on meds. :)

[snagglepuss]

2. Does the no milk apply across North America or just on the West Coast?

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. West coast, will move East...

on the bright side we are getting rain this weekend.

:-)

Be selfish and wish more of that. It washes it off the atmosphere.

The problem is not the radiation perse, but the particulates. We are that far that the radiation will be less than a a day in the beach. The particles on the other hand, might be a problem.

[mia]

3. Just checked my multivitamin - it has100% Iodine USRDA 150 MCG

Thanks for this information, I'm passing it on to my family and friends.

[sellitman]

30. Glad to help

My brother is a fellow Liberal and would be glad to know I posted his info here.

[Sirveri]

4. Please do NOT buy KI. The people who actually need that are in Japan.

If you're stockpiling and hoarding this stuff then that's less available for the people of Japan, for something that it is highly unlikely you will actually need.

[girl gone mad]

6. I think those arrangements need to be made between governments and..

manufacturers.

I don't think that people buying vitamins off of store shelves are making the difference. If there are shortages, it's because the manufacturers are running production too lean to begin with. Governments might consider stockpiling in the future.

[Sirveri]

21. They were running lean because there was no need to produce it.

So if there is a sudden upswing in demand here, and we pull all the stock from the warehouses, it will make it that much harder for the Japanese to get it. This stuff does have a shelf life, I seem to recall it expired after about 5 years. So it's not like they can just keep stockpiles of it sitting around.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. The ammont in my GNC daily multivitamin is

orders of magnitude LESS... been taking it for years.

As to what Japan needs, if they do, it will go from our stockpiles

[Sirveri]

22. Yeah I'm not worried about vitamin supplements, mainly actual KI specifically for this type of event

Keep taking your vitamins, but please leave the actual KI tablets alone, that's what I'm trying to get across.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Agreed, the ONLY reason I could see anybody getting them

is if they live within 50 miles of a US Reactor as part of your emergency kit for THAT reactor.

<--------- San Onofre

And for that.. when I finally get them.. will be when the scare is over and they go down in price.

[tavalon]

29. Yeah, I feel bad about my impulse purchase now

I only ordered 4 one week doses, but still. I now know it was fear, not knowledge that provoked that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Hold it milk

ok now I will say this... TOLD YOU SO...

As to the multivitamin, taking a multivitamin is a good idea anyway... and this is NOT the Potassium Iodine that some folks have been buying. The dosage in these pills is in micrograms, the dosage of the pills that they need in Japan are in grams.

150 McG is a lot less than 60 grams. You would have to take many of these pills to make one of the Iodine given at the zone.

[Codeine]

14. Potassium IoDIDE, thank you. nt

[kath]

19. Yes, nadin , you were right,

and it was sickening to see how assholish people were on your thread the other night. Pathetic.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Well we will get more official (rachel Maddow show last night)

that they might believe, sources for this.

And yes I rarely do this, but to these people I told you so.

It was... but other aspects were even worst.

[rdking647]

8. buying potassium iodide

because of the threat of fallout from japan is as stupid as the tea party nut stockpiling canned food for the upcoming end of america

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. You do realize though that this is what is in your DAILY

multivitamin right? Like oh Centrum.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Paradoxical]

18. I just want to make sure you understand how your comment was irrelevant.

Irrelevant to the comment you responded to.

Here, let's go through it together:

A:"buying potassium iodide because of the threat of fallout from japan is as stupid as the tea party nut stockpiling canned food for the upcoming end of america"

B:"You do realize though that this is what is in your DAILY multivitamin right? Like oh Centrum."


Notice how B is entirely unnecessary for A to be validated or disproved. It's an irrelevant comment.


As an aside, potassium iodide is not the same thing as potassium. You probably don't have any potassium iodide in your multivitamin. I just checked mine and I don't.

[kickysnana]

12. I know a few million Japanese that wish they had some food put aside. n/t

[Duer 157099]

20. Put aside where? In their house that floated away?

That's the problem with having a well-stocked pantry in a tsunami zone.

[girl gone mad]

24. Aren't there shortages across the country?

Not everyone's home floated away.

[nadinbrzezinski]

27. Yes shortages are there

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Oh and K&R

[tavalon]

28. Couple of things

Caveat - I did order KI, the day the first plant blew. It hasn't gotten here yet, but I've learned much in the interim. Like, it won't help all that much and other things rather than the radioactive iodine are more likely to land here - and careless use of iodine can be worse than not using it. Buying a smallish amount of irradiated (shelf) milk and some extra butter and forgoing the cow and sheep and fish things for a while is probably prudent. Never a better time to become a vegetarian, assuming you go ahead and buy those economy size bags of beans and rice now.

I thought about a gieger counter on the day I ordered the KI. I decided that was overkill. Whether it was or not, matters not now, as I don't think there are any to be found.