With the concern over meltdown and containment (or lack thereof) of the nuclear reactors at the power plants in Japan, following the horrific 9.0 earthquake that Japan suffered this week, a lot of people are searching for information about Potassium Iodide (not “Potassium Iodine”), also known as KI (“K” for potassium’s elemental symbol, ‘K’, and “I” for iodide), which is the prescribed prophylactic measure to protect your thyroid from radiation poisoning from radioactive fallout from a nuclear disaster – military or otherwise. Here is the information you need about why to take potassium iodide, dosage, and where to get it.
[NOTE: The following is NOT to be taken as medical advice. We are NOT doctors. We are merely repeating and reporting on information available in the government pamphlet “Potassium Iodide as a Thyroid Blocking Agent in Radiation Emergencies” linked below.]
The reason for taking Potassium Iodide (“KI”) when there is a release of radioactive material is because radioactive iodine can lodge in and affect the thyroid. However, if you have taken KI prior to being exposed to the radioactive iodine, then the KI effectively takes up all of the space in your thyroid, so the radioactive iodine cannot lodge in your thyroid and is, instead, harmlessly excreted by your body.
This is a vast over-simplification, but it’s the gist of it.
The government recommends taking 130mg of Potassium Iodide every 24 hours, until no longer needed.
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Conveniently, Amazon sells a special 14-day supply of 130mg Potassium Iodide, for keeping in an emergency kit, for under $6 per pack. Here is the link:
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PI is NOT some kind of warm, fuzzy, natural substance. It is a harsh mineral salt, and it is a VERY bad idea to take it without some indication that it is necessary to do so. It can have serious, even life-threatening side effects. The simple fact is that, at the present time, the risk of PI side effects is infinitely greater than the risk of cancer from nuclear fallout in the US.