Sodium iodide flying off the shelves

Panic about radiation is leading an awful lot of people to scramble for sodium iodide from local pharmacies and health food stores. The problem is it won’t help. The radiation levels are not going to be high enough in North America for preemptive measures and even if it were, sodium iodide protects one gland, the thyroid, and leaves the rest of your body open to radiation.

What’s even nuttier is that iodine supplements are also selling out and that has nothing to do with radiation treatment. People are clearly confused and more than a little panicky.

In Canada, the Prime Minister came out to reassure Canadians that everything will be fine. “I have been in regular contact with all senior officials and departments responsible for monitoring this and there is no evidence of a scenario that presents any risk to this country,” said PM Harper.

The Washington State Department of Health echoes that statement. At 5000 miles to the west, the radiation is too far away and will only dilute as it rides on high winds over the Pacific Ocean. “For radiation to get here, it would have to go very high up in the atmosphere and carry a very long way and be very concentrated when it got here,” Tim Church, spokesman for the department, said. “You add all that together and we do not expect a health impact here.”

In the meantime, if your favorite pharmacy is sold out, you can find sodium iodide on the internet for hundreds of dollars. Leave it to clever entrepreneurs to make a buck off other people’s insecurities.

Source: CTV.ca, Time Magazine