Potassium iodide sales soar as worried Americans try to protect themselves over radiation fears

dailymail ^

[traumer]

Firm gets three orders per MINUTE instead of per week People missing out on tablets are 'crying' and 'terrified' Fears radiation from Japan will reach U.S. West Coast

Worried Americans are panic-buying drugs to protect themselves against the nuclear fallout in Japan, as fears grow of harmful radiation blowing across to the West Coast. Stocks of potassium iodide tablets, which aim to stop radiation poisoning the thyroid gland, are running low and customers missing out are said to be ‘crying’ or ‘terrified’. Scientists have warned of a 'worst-case scenario' in which material blasted into the atmosphere after a Fukushima plant ‘meltdown’ could be blown towards the U.S.

Radioactive iodine can come out of a nuclear reactor in an accident, but other experts say there is a low chance of Japan's radiation reaching the U.S. at dangerous levels. Anbex quickly sold out of a 10,000-strong supply of 14-tablet packages on Saturday. Company president Alan Morris said the firm was getting three orders per minute for the $10 Iosat packages - compared to the normal rate of as low as three per week. ‘Those who don't get it are crying,’ he told the Wall Street Journal. ‘They're terrified.’

Fleming Pharmaceuticals, which makes liquid potassium iodide, say they are getting dozens of calls and emails every hour for their 45ml $13.25 ThyroShield bottles.

‘It actually has been insanity here,’ co-owner Deborah Fleming Wurdack said. The company expects to sell out this week and is planning to manufacture more.

Drug supplier Nukepills.com sold 250,000 potassium iodide pills to pharmacies, labs, companies and hospitals last weekend, president Troy Jones told Fox News. It has back-ordered more than a million tablets and donated 50,000 to Japan.

[Gondring]

http://www.stripes.com/blogs/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/is-radiation-from-japan-heading-to-the-u-s-1.137815

[444Flyer]

There are a number of possible nasty side effects that come with PI and the risk HAS to outweigh the benefits.

If you are seriously concerned because your husband may have a stop in Tokyo, have your hubby check with his physician before taking anything and consider benefits vs. real risks.

“Potassium iodide Side Effects”

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/potassium-iodide-side-effects.html
______________________________________________________

Here is also a very good site in regards to ionizing radiation.

“...Incorporate Shielding Alpha stopped by a sheet of paper; Beta by a sheet of plastic or glass; Gamma by lead;

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: The Basics of Ionizing Radiation

7. For further information, see “Radiological Terrorism for Healthcare” which can be viewed as one of the Medfilms Online Courses at

www.crestaznm.org.

Facts from that film:

a. Only one half of one percent of the 85,000 Japanese survivors of the atomic bombs developed cancer attributed to this radiation exposure.

b.The maximum dose received by health care workers treating the victims of the Chernobyl accident was 1 rad. (One rad is the dose received from a CT of the abdomen.)”

http://www.haz-map.com/radiation.htm

[panaxanax]

please explain.

[Gondring]

There are various interpretations of your handle, and though I don’t know what one it truly represents, it can be seen as Panax (from Panacea, Apollo’s daughter) and Xanax (the potent benzodiazepine used to treat severe panic attacks. Or you can take the first part more directly as a near-homophone of “Panics.”

Maybe you are referring to ginseng or something else, but I think it’s an interesting match for this situation.

[panaxanax]

“Maybe you are referring to ginseng or something else, but I think it’s an interesting match for this situation.”

You’re one of the few that know the Latin name for ginseng. Now work on figuring out the ‘anax’ part and you’ll be the winner!

[Gondring]

I think dragonflies (or one genus of them) are Anax. But I think it could be Anaximander (which I just now realize would also be appropriate, given his earthquake prediction!)

[panaxanax]

See what happens when people make quick assumptions?

[Gondring]

Ah, but I didn’t assume the true meaning of it...I just read what it contains. :-)

[codder too]

Shelf life of KI is very long as long as tablets are kept dry. Our supply has been vacuum sealed. Use your food vacuum sealer bags, if you have one. Works well.

We live within 20 miles of Three Mile Island. Local towns here have distributed KI "free" periodically, for years.

[count-your-change]

From the WSJ, “U.S. agencies are monitoring the situation. “Given the thousands of miles between the two countries, Hawaii, Alaska, the U.S. territories and the U.S. West Coast are not expected to experience any harmful levels of radioactivity,” the NRC said in a statement.”

The map without some explanation is of little value.