Pharmacies, natural food stores and health officials are reporting an increased demand for anti-radiation pills in the wake of Japan’s nuclear crisis.
The pills, called potassium iodide, are given to people exposed to radiation, and they help prevent certain types of radiation from building up in the thyroid gland.
In the Upstate, some pharmacies report an increased interest in the pills, but most pharmacies don’t even sell them.
At Garner’s Natural Foods in Spartanburg, the manager says two customers bought every pill they had. Now, the store is out and having to turn away other interested customers.
The S.C. Dept. of Health and Environmental Control said there is “absolutely no need” for people in SC to be taking the pills.
By the time any of the radiation from Japan reached any part of the United States, including the west coast, it would be so diluted that it probably wouldn’t even be detectable, said Thom Berry with DHEC.
What’s more, the pills protect against just one form of thyroid cancer, and they’re not a “silver bullet,” Berry said, to protect against all forms of cancer.
By law, people living within a ten-mile radius of the Oconee Nuclear Station have already been given the pills long before the Japan disaster.
People who take the pills as a preventive measure, which DHEC does not recommend, could face minor irritation from the pills, Berry said.
Bottom line, Berry and others say: The rush of potassium iodide pills is knee-jerk and not warranted.
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