Feds Stockpile Anti-Radiation Pills Thu Jun 13, 2:52 PM ET By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal agencies in Washington ordered 350,000 potassium iodide pills this week from a North Carolina company to protect people from cancer caused by radioactive iodine, which can be released in nuclear explosions.
The agencies are stockpiling the pills "in case of a nuclear event," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security.
"It's been an ongoing effort," Johndroe said, adding that it is not a direct result of the arrest of Jose Padilla, a suspected al-Qaida member who may have been planning a "dirty bomb" attack on Washington.
The government orders Monday and Tuesday represent 9 percent of NukePills.com's business this year and were 18 percent higher than the company's total 2000 sales, said owner Troy Jones. Private citizens are buying as well.
"In 2000, who ever heard of potassium iodide?" Jones said Thursday. Until then, his only clients were survivalists and those who lived near reactors.
After Sept. 11, many people were ordering the pills that protect the thyroid gland from radioactive iodine, a cancer-causing agent that can be released in huge plumes in atomic explosions.
The orders have nearly overwhelmed Jones' three-person sales team since Monday, when Attorney General John Ashcroft ( news - web sites) announced Padilla's arrest.
However, experts believe a "dirty bomb" would release other kinds of radiation. Potassium iodide, which sells for about $1 a pill, would be helpful only if a dirty bomb used radioactive iodine instead of other radioactive substances, and then only for people close to the explosion.
People aren't buying this product because they think they're going to protect themselves from a dirty bomb, Jones said. "They're buying it because they think something worse is going to happen to this country, (such as) an attack on a nuclear plant or a suitcase (nuclear) bomb."
Johndroe isn't going that far, but he acknowledged the government is making large buys of potassium iodide.
The purchases were made by agencies including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( news - web sites), the Department of Energy ( news - web sites) and the Department of Health and Human Services ( news - web sites).
The Food and Drug administration ( news - web sites) approved over-the-counter sales of potassium iodide in 1982. It recommends that anyone exposed to radioactive iodine take one tablet daily for up to 14 days, and recommends smaller doses for children.
Jones said he was getting about one order per minute online, and most of the new clients were from the Washington area.
The Padilla arrest, Jones said, "was a wake-up call."
Feds Stockpile Anti-Radiation Pills Thu Jun 13, 2:52 PM ET
Not a bad idea. Here's a link to a place that sells it: Ki4U.com