[airborne]

Potasium iodide tablets (for radiation poisoning)

[RaceBannon]

Potasium Iodide only works fo cesium and other stuff from a nuke explosion, not a dirty bomb.

Dirty Bomb is just uranium or other stuff, I doubt we will see a plutonium bomb

[chimera]

Absolutely do not take KI. It is a thyroid blocker that does no good for anything other than radioiodine, which has an 8-day half-life for the most common form. Thus, it is only, absolutely only, effective for release of radioactive effluent from freshly-irradiated nuclear fuel. That it, an accident involving damage to an operating reactor core, where somehow the containment integrity is compromised.

So, aside from doing absolutely nothing helpful for you in the case of anything other than radioiodine, there is a slight chance of an adverse allergic reaction, just as there is for any dietary supplement. I think the statistics are an average of 1 person in 2 million, or maybe its two people in a million, but you get the general sense from those numbers. Thus, for the case of a large population that panics and starts gulping down KI tablets because they heard "there's a 'dirty bomb' going off", probably the reaction to the KI is going to present more of a hazard.

[FreedomCalls]

Potasium iodide tablets (for radiation poisoning)

Potasium iodide tablets will only protect you from getting thyroid cancer. It will not protect you from any other cancer nor will it protect you from radiation poisoning itself.

[I still care]

Also I always keep antibiotics. Radiation damages the immune system.

[cmiller623]

Actually that won't protect you very much. A San Diego company, HollisEden Pharma, is developing a radio-protectant. They are ready to start Phase III monkey tests and Phase I human safety trials. The drug is being developed to counter the effects of radiation from a dirty bomb or nuclear detonation.