September 30, 1999
According to World Health Organization studies done after Chernobyl, taking potassium iodide can prevent thyroid cancer in people exposed to radiation if taken within ten hours of exposure.Last year the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreed to purchase potassium iodide for any state that wanted to stockpile it. To date, only three states -- Tennessee, Alabama and Arizona -- store the inexpensive pills in counties near nuclear-power plants.
Japan, Canada, France and Russia all have stockpiled potassium iodide. In addition, physicians from the National Institutes of Health and the American Thyroid Association support stockpiling. http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/gmo/nrarcv/98-109.htm
