Pure Potassium Iodide

Potassium Iodide is an essential $11 bio-prepping measure that belongs in your armamentarium

I don't watch a lot of TV, but every once in a while I'll find a real gem of a series and I enjoyed HBO's riveting dramatization of the Chernobyl disaster.

In it, the Soviet leadership refuses to evacuate the population of the area affected by Chernobyl, consigning many thousands (perhaps millions) of Soviet citizens to death by radiation poisoning. In the show, the nuclear scientists, are often popping little white pills, Potassium Iodide, to protect themselves from the radiation.

I don't know enough about nuclear power to say there is a real threat of another catastrophic nuclear reactor meltdown. Once upon a time, I got drunk in a bar in Panama with a nuclear engineer on vacation and he assured me that there was no way that a Fukushima or a Chernobyl-level event could occur again. I'd love to believe him but there's an article worth reading entitled 400 Chernobyls by an MIT engineer and author which suggests that nuclear power reactors present an existential threat to humanity and don't forget that there are over 14,000 nuclear warheads in the world, some in the hands of opposing nations which have great hate for each other. It seems naive to not worry about nuclear catastrophe.

Luckily, you can more or less Nuke-proof yourself, with Potassium Iodide...

It protects the thyroid gland from radiation and mitigates the resulting risk of thyroid cancer. The CDC recommends Potassium Iodide to men, women, and children to protect themselves from radiation emergencies and nuclear events. An adult would want to dose a single 125-milligram tab daily to protect themselves. The health-conscious will want to check and see if the background levels of radiation in their city is high (in America, Europe, and the rest of the world), if you’re in a hot spot it would be smart to take a small dose of potassium iodide (200-300 micrograms) daily along with your other vitamins.

If you enjoy history or political thrillers, check out HBO's Chernobyl and I urge you to practice long-term thinking and pick up this radiation-protective supplement. A supply of Potassium Iodide that would protect you for at least three weeks in a fall-out zone runs less than $20. You might be thinking...

OK but who knows when or if I'm going to need to nuke-proof myself? It could be in years, decades, next week or never!

The expiration dates are very conservative estimates, from The Myth of Drug Expiration Dates...

In his lab, Gerona ran tests on the decades-old drugs, including some now defunct brands such as the diet pills Obocell (once pitched to doctors with a portly figurine called “Mr. Obocell”) and Bamadex. Overall, the bottles contained 14 different compounds, including antihistamines, pain relievers and stimulants. All the drugs tested were in their original sealed containers. The findings surprised both researchers: A dozen of the 14 compounds were still as potent as they were when they were manufactured, some at almost 100 percent of their labeled concentrations. “Lo and behold,” Cantrell says, “The active ingredients are pretty darn stable.”

There's a compelling case that if you needed a pharmaceutical or supplement you could probably use them up to a decade after you bought them. Obviously, it's preferable to use fresh stuff, but I keep a stash of Potassium Iodide in deep storage, I'd suggest you do the same. If I ever need an emergency nuclear protection dose, I'll have bigger things to worry about than expiration dates!

In the time being, check out my deep-dive articles about Medicines that will be Worth their Weight in Gold Post-Collapse and Prepping for an Uncertain Future with Nootropics...

About Potassium Iodide

French chemist Bernard Courtois discovered potassium iodide in 1811, and its historical medicinal use dates back as far as 1820. Iodine has 37 isotopes, all of which experience radioactive decay with the exception of iodine 127. Iodine 127 is the only stable and nonradioactive iodine isotope, and potassium iodide (KI) is an ion salt compound of that element. Iodine deficiency affects approximately two billion people worldwide, and it is the number one cause of preventable intellectual disabilities.