iodine

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As Threat of Nuclear Attack Looms, a New Hot Commodity

Demand surges in Europe, prices spike for iodine, potassium iodide pills amid Russia-Ukraine conflict

(Newser) - With Russia's nuclear deterrent forces on high alert , and a wary eye cast upon the situation at Ukraine's Chernobyl and other local nuclear power plants , there's a new hot commodity in Europe: iodine and potassium iodide pills that residents hope would mitigate the effects of radiation poisoning...

Belgium Getting Residents Ready for Nuclear Accident

Country's 7 nuclear plants are aging, cracking, leaking

(Newser) - Over 4 million boxes of iodine tablets have begun arriving in pharmacies across Belgium as the country prepares for a possible emergency involving one of its seven aging nuclear reactors, AFP reports. According to CNN , iodine tablets, which help with radiation buildup in the thyroid gland, will be provided free...

Fearing Nuclear Disaster, German City Hands Out Iodine

It's an unusual move

(Newser) - In an unusual move, a German city is handing out iodine tablets to be used in a nuclear emergency without the justification of an actual disaster going on. The BBC reports Aachen is giving away free iodine tablets to the half a million people who live in the city and...

Japan's Tsunami Made Cambodian Kids Sicker

2011 natural disaster exacerbated iodized salt dearth, worsening country's deficiency issue

(Newser) - Cambodia thought it had a handle on its scarcity of iodine, an element critical for humans (and one not made naturally by the body) to make thyroid hormone. The country had long struggled with the lack of iodine in its soil, which at one point in the late 1990s resulted...

Every Belgium Resident to Get Iodine Ration

Amid fears of an ISIS dirty bomb or nuclear plant meltdown

(Newser) - Last month's terrorist attacks in Brussels heightened already existing fears of ISIS building and setting off a dirty bomb in Belgium, and now the government is taking no chances. Health Minister Maggie De Block announced Thursday that iodine pills—which counteract radiation buildup in the thyroid gland, the part...

Iodine Deficiency While Pregnant Can Hurt Baby's IQ

Study reminds women to eat fish, drink milk

(Newser) - Don't forget to include dairy products and fish in your diet while pregnant: Those are good sources of iodine, and a new study finds that it's important for your baby's mental development that you get enough of it while you're expecting. Researchers looked at more than...

Crotchety Inventor, 88, Wants DEA to Stuff It

Meth crackdown brings halt to his water-purification product

(Newser) - An 88-year-old tinkerer in California who invented a nifty water-purification product for hikers or disaster survivors is effectively out of business, all because of a DEA crackdown on meth dealers. As the San Jose Mercury News explains, Bob Wallace's "Polar Pure" bottles contain iodine crystals, and the feds...

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