Potassium Iodide pills effective but hard to find, claims ConsumerLab.com

The threat of terrorism in the wake of the 11 September attacks in the US has led to growing fears about what would happen if one such attack were targeted at a nuclear facility. The dietary supplement market has reacted quickly to this threat, and a raft of potassium iodide and iodate products designed to help protect against radioactivity.

While some of these products have been censured by the FTC and FDA for offering little or no protection and simply cashing in the fears of the American public, many others are indeed effective in protecting the thyroid gland from the effects of radioactive iodine and thus reducing the risk of thyroid cancer.

This was the conclusion of ConsumerLab.com, the independent tester of supplements and other products. However, the organisation also discovered that the availability of thee products was not good, even in areas close to nuclear facilities.

Because radioprotective iodine products are only effective if taken before or very shortly after exposure, people would most likely turn to government agencies and local pharmacies to get them in the event of an emergency, ConsumerLab.com said. However, most neighbourhood pharmacies do not routinely stock these products, and while some will order them if asked, a prescription is required - even though potassium iodide is not classified as a prescription drug.

ConsumerLab.com​ purchased five tablet and one powder product over the Internet to carry out its tests, and discovered that all six of them passed. All of the products contained the labelled amounts of active ingredient and the tablet products were able to disintegrate properly in solution, necessary for absorption by the body.

"Despite there being good products on the market, in a real emergency, neither government agencies nor local pharmacies seem ready to rapidly get radioprotective iodine to those who will need it,"​ concluded Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com.

"In light of terrorist threats and because radioactive iodine is carried by winds, individuals living within 50 miles of a nuclear facility should keep some pills on hand, particularly if they have children, who are most sensitive to the effects of radioactive iodine."​ Some municipalities are now making one or two tablets available to residents, although they must live within 10 miles of a reactor to qualify, he added.

The US government is aware of the distribution problems facing potassium iodide - President George W. Bush alluded to it recently when announcing the decision to establish a new government department to protect against terrorist threats on American soil - and is clearly preparing to act on it, but US consumers are unlikely to be assured until they have the pills in their hands.