Anxious metro Atlantans have joined the hunt for potassium iodide tablets, a cheap drug that protects against radiation, but supplies are scarce, and experts say Georgians are not at risk from the nuclear crisis in Japan.
"Certainly there is no evidence that there are any health issues [related to the Japan crisis] in the state of Georgia," said radiation expert Dr. Walter Curran, executive director of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University. "It would be better for all of us to have rattlesnake kits in our homes than potassium iodide."
Some people find such assurances less satisfying than a pill, however.
"They just want to have it," said Ira Katz, owner of the Little Five Points Pharmacy in Atlanta. "We don't carry it, and we can't get it."
The drug, largely considered an antiquated treatment for thyroid problems, has long been absent from many drug stores. Many internet suppliers have run dry in recent weeks, said Katz, a board member of the Georgia Pharmacy Association.
Health food stores have been pointing people to sea-weed and kelp, which also contain the protective chemical.
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling people not to consume potassium iodide tabs, and Curran cautioned against storing the drug in a household medicine cabinet where curious youngsters could get hold of it. Prolonged use could have serious side effects for young people, he said, including permanent thyroid damage.
Potassium iodide is a type of salt that can prevent thyroid cancer due to radiation exposure. Some emergency response teams near nuclear facilities -- including the two plants in Georgia -- keep supplies of the pills on hand for first responders.
But the pills do not protect other parts of the body, Curran said. He added that Georgians must decide for themselves whether concern about potential radiation leaks from local nuclear facilities warrants having the pills on hand. "I see no reason to do it," he said.
Georgia officials monitor radiation levels in air and rainwater around the state's nuclear reactors, near Augusta and in south Georgia. Those monitors have picked up trace amounts of radiation -- well within safe levels -- from the Fukushima plant, said Jim Hardeman, manager of the monitoring program.
"These are very, very small levels," Hardeman said "There should be no cause for concern or alarm." He said the radiation was identified as iodine 131, the type that escaped the Japanese facility.
Customs officials at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport routinely check some incoming international passengers and luggage for evidence of exposure to radiation. In the wake of the Japanese disaster, they are increasing the number of those checks, especially on flights arriving from Japan, said Patrick O'Neal of the state Division of Public Health.
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