Is there any benefit to taking iodine after the Japanese nuclear reactor problems? - RS, Tauranga
The short answer is no. Radioactive iodine is a byproduct of nuclear fission, and it is released in large quantities during major nuclear accidents like the ones at Fukushima or Chernobyl.
It is born aloft by
fires or explosions, spreading downwind in a fallout plume. Traces of radioactive iodine spread worldwide, but the real risk is to those close to the reactor.
Near Chernobyl, thyroid cancer rates among children eventually climbed to 30 times their normal levels. A mere 300km away, these rates had already dropped to 3 times normal.
Fortunately for New Zealand, there is safety in being geographically isolated.
We know that for those directly downwind in a nuclear fallout zone (let's say Poland after Chernobyl), supplemental iodine was effective in preventing most excess cases of thyroid cancers, but a few important caveats are in order.
When you take iodine, you're saturating your thyroid so that it cannot take up any additional radioactive iodine. This decreases your thyroid cancer risk, but does not lower your risk of other types of cancers, radiation burns, or bone marrow failure. Also, supplemental iodine helps only temporarily.
Since you can't stay on iodine long-term without suppressing your thyroid and damaging your health, it's strictly a short-term emergency manoeuvre.
And finally, it's useless unless you are quite close to a fallout area. And we, in New Zealand, are not. So although it may be prudent for those who live near Fukushima to be on iodine tablets, it certainly isn't for us.
Gary Payinda MD is an emergency medicine consultant in Whangarei.
Have a science, health topic or question you'd like addressed? Email: drpayinda@gmail.com
(This column provides general information and is not a substitute for the medical advice of your personal doctor.)
