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发帖数: 185 | 1 Many West Coast residents came up empty handed in their search of potassium
iodide this week as fears over radiation spreading from Japan took hold.
The rush on the supplement came even as emergency management officials said
there is no need to take the pills believed to prevent the thyroid from
absorbing radiation.
"I didn't see too many people concerned about it. But when it was sold out,
it made me think that I should be concerned," said Hameed Hemmat, who lives
in the San Francisco Bay area.
Hemmat, who struggled to find potassium iodide online when he couldn't find
it in his area, said he ended up placing an order with a New Jersey company.
He also has friends in New York looking for it.
Last week's 9.0-magnitude earthquake unleashed a deadly tsunami that wiped
out large sections of northeastern Japan. The waves damaged a nuclear power
plant that has released radiation into the air and could release more if
workers can't control runaway temperatures.
Battling the effects of radiation
Dr. Gupta on the effects of radiation
Is U.S. threatened by Japan radiation?
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RELATED TOPICS
* Tsunamis
* Japan
* U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said it does not expect to see
harmful levels of radiation reaching the United States from Japan, but is
working to deploy additional monitoring capabilities to parts of the western
United States and U.S. territories.
Some, like Angie Girgis in Dublin, California, said the crisis in Japan is
not a cause for alarm stateside.
"It's pretty far away," Girgis said. "There's a whole ocean between us."
Others, like Matt Donnellan in San Diego, said it was a case of being
prepared.
"I sent some to my family in New York and kept some just in case," he said.
Internet retailers attempted to capitalize on the fear. A Twitter search
revealed dozens of of ads hawking the product.
The supplement disappeared from some store shelves even as California's
emergency management agency warned residents against taking it.
"It is not necessary given the current circumstances in Japan," the agency
said. "It can present a danger to people with allergies to iodine, shellfish
or who have thyroid problems, and taken inappropriately it can have serious
side effects."
Diane D'Arrigo with the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in
Washington, D.C. said she's ordered potassium iodide, but acknowledges it
has limited effectiveness.
"It is important for blocking uptake of (radioactive) iodine to the thyroid,
but there are other radionuclides that go to other organs that it won't
help with," she said of the radioactive elements.
The Nuclear Information and Resource Service bills itself as a center for "
citizens and environmental activists concerned about nuclear power,
radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues."
Some who came away unsuccessful in their search for potassium iodide took
other steps.
Jamie Everhart of Hungtington Beach, California, opted for sea kelp instead.
"Sea Kelp is a natural source of iodine which blocks the radiation from
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