Health

Board nukes anti-radiation pill

by Ben Geman

A state advisory panel on radiation is discouraging the Massachusetts Department of Public Health from stockpiling potassium iodide pills, a measure that advocates say would beef up the state's planned response to a nuclear accident. Potassium iodide (KI), if taken right before or after exposure to radiation, helps prevent thyroid cancer by blocking absorption of radioactive iodine into the gland (see "A Bitter Pill To Swallow?", TJI, News and Features, November 26, 1999 and "Power Houses," News and Features, December 24, 1999).

In a February 2 letter received by the office of state public-health commissioner Howard Koh last week, Charles Killian, chair of the Governor's Advisory Council on Radiation Protection, writes that the odds of a large radioactive-iodine release at an American nuclear plant are low. He stresses the need to focus on evacuation and shelter in a crisis.

Anti-nuclear advocates call the advisory council's position a cave-in to the nuclear industry, which has argued that distributing the pills after an accident could slow or confuse evacuation efforts. This industry opposition is motivated by PR concerns, say advocates, who hope Koh will buck the council's recommendation. "They fear stockpiling may cause the public to lose confidence in nuclear technology," says Mary Lampert, director of Massachusetts Citizens for Safe Energy. "We hope he [Koh] will act to protect the public's health and not the industry's."

But Massachusetts is unlikely to become one of the handful of states that stockpile KI. State officials say Koh, who has not made a final decision, will probably follow the council's recommendation. "As far as general stockpiling, we concur with the [council's] advice," says Paul Jacobsen, the state's deputy public-health commissioner. "We feel it is probably not a good idea. We feel individuals who want to have it available should consult with their physician."