Got this in my e-mail, thought it of interest:

Nuclear Disaster Information from Medical Corps Organization: Medical Corps

Information About Nuclear Events and KIO3, Potassium Iodate.

Health experts now estimate that the greatest health concerns affecting the largest number of people from a nuclear event anywhere in the world, will likely be from the release of Radioactive Iodine 131 that is then carried downwind for hundreds of miles.

Radioactive Iodine 131 is a major radioisotope that is abundantly present in both nuclear power plant accidents and nuclear bomb explosions and can travel hundreds of miles on the winds. Thyroid cancer attributable to Chernobyl has been documented up to 300 miles from the accident site.

Very small amounts of inhaled or ingested Radioactive Iodine can do serious damage because it will always be absorbed and held the in the thyroid gland. Eventually, by absorbing radiation in the thyroid, abnormalities are likely to result, such as nodules in the thyroid, loss of thyroid function, or thyroid cancer. Medical Corps and other health experts agree: The greatest danger from Radioactive Iodine is to the thyroid glands of children. Medical Researchers have found that in certain parts of Belarus after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster, over 30% of children, who were under the age of 4 years old at the time of the accident, can expect to develop thyroid cancer. That is why we produce KIO3, and have formulated it for children, as well as adults.

Taking Potassium Iodate (KIO3) in the event of fallout will saturate a persons thyroid gland with stable ("good") iodine, so the Radioactive Iodine cannot be absorbed by the thyroid. Because the thyroid is saturated with the "good" Iodine, then any Radioactive Iodine that is later inhaled or ingested is quickly eliminated by the body.

Guidelines for Dosing can be downloaded and printed from www.medicalcorps.org/usability.html

Potassium Iodate (KIO3) is now being stockpiled by most states in the USA. Individuals like you from every state in the USA has purchased KIO3 from Medical Corps. This is a current list of the countries who purchased KIO3 from Medical Corps for use around Nuclear Power facilities and known nuclear weapons facilities:

Taiwan

United Kingdom/Britain

Channel Islands

Ireland (limited distributorships available)

Scotland (limited distributorships available)

Australia (limited distributorships available)

Japan

Singapore

Canada (limited distributorships available)

Germany

Mongolia

Korea

You can obtain this inexpensive lifesaver from these sites:

Medical Corps: www.medicalcorps.com

Professional Resources Network: www.pro-resources.net

KIO3.com: www.kio3.com

**************************************************************

You have received this because you have downloaded the Medical Corps Bio-hazard charts for antibiotic prophylaxis. Medical Corps does NOT trade or sell emails, and we respect your privacy.

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If for some reason you wish to NEVER receive a medical emergency update from Medical Corps, then simply send a blank email with REMOVE as the subject to: remove@medicalcorps.org

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2001

Answers

It looks as though Shane's been pretty busy too! http://www.ki4u.com

He has more of the Radblock in but has sold out of everything else. Must be a heck of a demand out there right now!

So, how many people can these "PUSH Pack" teams treat, anyway? I'd heard that Congress was adding Iodide to the PUSH Pack equipment list, along with Cipro, but don't know how long that will be till...

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2001

OG,

Here's an article from the NY Times - looks like the Feds are moving on this too!

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/29/national/29RADI.html? searchpv=past7days

November 29, 2001

RADIATION THREAT

Agency Weighs Buying Drug to Protect Against Radiation-Induced Ailments

By MATTHEW L. WALD

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 — Spurred by the attacks in September, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving toward buying millions of doses of a drug that protects against thyroid cancer that might result from radiation exposure.

The idea of stockpiling the drug, potassium iodide, has been debated since the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island, near Harrisburg, Pa. Proponents renewed discussions of the proposal after the explosion of the Chernobyl reactor in the Ukraine, a 1986 accident that is now blamed for thousands of thyroid cancers, mostly in people who were in utero or younger than 2 years old at the time. Those people, regardless of their age, who took potassium iodide at the time were protected.

In 1998, the commission decided to offer the drug free to any state that wanted to stockpile it, but the following year it reversed itself and rescinded the offer.

Now the commission has set aside $800,000, enough to buy millions of doses to offer to states, and is waiting for a guidance document from the Food and Drug Administration on how big a radiation dose warrants use of the drug, and how much of the drug should be given to babies, children, adults and pregnant women.

The guidance, based on data from Chernobyl, will call for using potassium iodide at far lower levels of exposure to radiation than previously recommended, said Dr. David G. Orloff, who is in charge of the document. It will conclude that the benefits of use far exceed risks, even though some people may have adverse reactions, Dr. Orloff said.

The earlier recommendation was based on data from the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast in 1945.

William Beecher, the commission's chief spokesman, said that the agency was eager to proceed. The F.D.A. document, he said, is "the missing piece," and when it is completed, his agency will enter negotiations with pharmaceutical companies for a large order, and then ship pills to any state that wants to stockpile them near a nuclear plant.

But the new recommendation is far more complex, establishing different recommended doses and different conditions for use for eight categories of people: newborns; infants younger than 3 years old; children 3 to 12; youths 12 to 18; adults 18 to 40; adults older than 40; and women who are lactating or are pregnant.

For those younger than 18 and for pregnant or lactating women, the F.D.A. will recommend giving the drug at a level of radiation exposure a fifth as large as advised in the 1980's.

Dr. Orloff, director of the division of metabolic and endocrine drug products at the Food and Drug Administration, said, "What's happened between 1982 and now is Chernobyl, and the rash of thyroid cancers that occurred in the aftermath, notably in children who were between zero and 4 years old at the time of the accident."

The World Health Organization has called for giving children potassium iodide at an anticipated radiation dose one-fifth of the standard to be proposed by the F.D.A.

But Dr. Orloff said the disparity is not serious. The larger problem, he said, is predicting the radiation dose from an unfolding accident.

"The ability to predict in advance, when you see smoke starting to billow, what the precise exposure is going to be, is pretty poor," he said.

When reactors split uranium atoms, one of the fragments is an intensely radioactive form of iodine, which can be absorbed by people directly or can land in pastures, where it is eaten by cows and concentrated in their milk. One reason children are vulnerable is that they drink more milk than adults do.

Potassium iodide works by saturating the human thyroid gland with normal iodine so it cannot absorb radioactive iodine. Potassium iodide can cross the placenta, but the prime protective mechanism in pregnant women is that its use reduces the ability of the mother to absorb the radioactive variety.

But the drug must be given before the radiation exposure, or very soon after, which means it must be stored near the site of potential exposure.

Adverse reactions are rare, but are more common among people older than 40, said the F.D.A., which set a radiation exposure threshold for those people at 100 times the level for children and adolescents.

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2001

So, would this be a good stocking stuffer or should it be a regular under the tree gift?

I don't recall Martha covering this sort of thing...

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2001

Barefoot,

Stocking stuffer. ;-) Actually, the bottles are rather small, about the size of a 100 pill Tylenol bottle. Would fit in all but the smallest of Christmas stockings...

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2001

Well, it depends. If you get enough for the whole family, pets included, then it could be an under-tree gift. And, as Martha says, put glitter on every damn thing you've got.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2001

Okay, that's sounds logical.

Now, I also wonder if it is suitable for a birthday gift? I wouldn't want anyone thinking that since it was such a small package that it was jewelry or something...

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2001

You could mark it with one of those cute little yellow radiation stickers to give a hint.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2001

If Mrs. Barefoot isn't a GI, better get her a nice necklace at the same time.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2001

Just asked Bro' if he is interested in a vial. He didn't know what I was referring to (which is a bit amazing because he works for a company that produces radioactive diagnostic chemical products). Sitting here dreading his answer to my clarification...

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2001