Published: Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Experts: No radiation danger in Snohomish County from Japan disaster
Any radioactive fallout from Japan will disperse over the ocean, a weather expert says. Potassium iodide may be hard to find, but we don't need it anyway, health officials say.
Even 5,000 miles away, people are worried about the radiation released from Japan's earthquake-damaged nuclear power reactors.
Just ask the Snohomish Health District, which has fielded calls from people seeking supplies of potassium iodide.
As an over-the-counter medication, it can occasionally be found in pharmacies and some retail stores.
But local and state public health officials say there's no reason to take it.
"Absolutely not," Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District said Tuesday. "There is not an increased level of radiation in Washington state at this time."
The medication protects the thyroid against high concentrations of radioactive iodine, but is only given to people who live very close to nuclear generating plants when accidents occur.
"I understand people are anxious," Goldbaum said. "And it's good people are paying attention and thinking about how to keep themselves safe.
"Frankly, we are much more likely to experience a serious emergency from an earthquake here than to experience radiation problems from this event."
Cliff Mass, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington, said he has tried his best over the past several days to calm people's worries.
"To tell you the truth, it doesn't matter what's going on over there," he said of the problems occurring at Japan's nuclear power reactors.
"There could be five Chernobyls -- which isn't going to happen," he said. There is no way for high concentrations of radiation to land in the Pacific Northwest to cause a problem, he said. "It's really that simple."
Even at Chernobyl, in what is now Ukraine, the levels of radioactivity after the major nuclear power plant accident were limited to areas within 500 to 1,000 miles of the plant, he said.
Weather patterns do bring the fallout from dust storms and air pollution from Asia to Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, he said.
The concentrations of any radiation that does escape from the damaged Japanese plants will decline rapidly as it mixes with the air and with precipitation, Mass said.
"There's no way to get dangerous quantities of the stuff here," he said. "That's what it really comes down to."
Nevertheless, Mass said he knows people who have been rushing out to look for their own personal stash of potassium iodide.
"People I was surprised at doing it," Mass said. "Very sane people."
Donn Moyer, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, said the ongoing statewide system that monitors for radioactive material is being checked closely. "We just have natural background levels," he said.
While the earthquake has caused a series of problems at some of Japan's nuclear reactors, "what hasn't happened is a major release of radioactive material to the upper atmosphere that could be carried around the world," he said.
It would typically take six to 10 days for any radioactive material from Japan to make its way through the atmosphere to reach the Northwest, he said.
Even if such an event occurred, by the time it reached the West Coast from Japan, "there would be no need for public health action," Moyer said. Wind and weather patterns would help to dilute it.
Goldbaum said that some people who are allergic to iodine can have severe reactions to the potassium iodide pills.
And people with thyroid conditions would need to talk to their doctor before taking the pills, even if they were recommended, he said.
Although potassium iodide pills are a non-prescription tablet, they may be difficult to find.
Six people, referred by local pharmacies, called the Snohomish Health District on Monday and Tuesday asking for the pills, spokeswoman Suzanne Pate said.
Neither the health district nor the state stockpiles the pills, although the federal government does have supplies in case of a nuclear emergency.
Bartell Drugs does not typically carry it in their stores, according to Theron Andrews, vice president of marketing.
The company does not have a regular supplier for the pills but has contacted several suppliers to try to stock the pills, Andrews said.
"There's no availability," he said.
Safeway pharmacies do not have potassium iodide in stock, said Cherie Myers, director of public and government affairs for Safeway. There have been some questions from customers about the pills, she added, and the product is on back order.
"The pill only protects parts of the body under specific conditions," she said. "The likelihood of anything happening is slim to none. A question would be why would somebody have it and why would they need it?"
Staff at Ed's Surplus and Marine in Lynnwood started keeping track of phone calls from customers asking if the store had any potassium iodide tablets in stock for purchase. The tablets have long been used for emergency water purification.
At least 15 people had phoned the store asking for the tablets by late Tuesday afternoon. Supervisor Cameron Ivison had to tell people the store did not have tablets to sell.
"I had the weekend off and after I left Friday I guess that's when all the calls started coming in on Saturday," he said.
The store has sold potassium iodide tablets in the past, Ivison said, but isn't having much luck finding more tablets to stock the shelves now.
"If we had any we would sell it," he said. "We cannot find any available right now."
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com
Learn more
The State Department of Health has a question-and-answer page on its website on the topic of radiation releases from damaged Japanese nuclear power plants.
tinyurl.com/Japan-faq
Just ask the Snohomish Health District, which has fielded calls from people seeking supplies of potassium iodide.
As an over-the-counter medication, it can occasionally be found in pharmacies and some retail stores.
But local and state public health officials say there's no reason to take it.
"Absolutely not," Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District said Tuesday. "There is not an increased level of radiation in Washington state at this time."
The medication protects the thyroid against high concentrations of radioactive iodine, but is only given to people who live very close to nuclear generating plants when accidents occur.
"I understand people are anxious," Goldbaum said. "And it's good people are paying attention and thinking about how to keep themselves safe.
"Frankly, we are much more likely to experience a serious emergency from an earthquake here than to experience radiation problems from this event."
Cliff Mass, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington, said he has tried his best over the past several days to calm people's worries.
"To tell you the truth, it doesn't matter what's going on over there," he said of the problems occurring at Japan's nuclear power reactors.
"There could be five Chernobyls -- which isn't going to happen," he said. There is no way for high concentrations of radiation to land in the Pacific Northwest to cause a problem, he said. "It's really that simple."
Even at Chernobyl, in what is now Ukraine, the levels of radioactivity after the major nuclear power plant accident were limited to areas within 500 to 1,000 miles of the plant, he said.
Weather patterns do bring the fallout from dust storms and air pollution from Asia to Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, he said.
The concentrations of any radiation that does escape from the damaged Japanese plants will decline rapidly as it mixes with the air and with precipitation, Mass said.
"There's no way to get dangerous quantities of the stuff here," he said. "That's what it really comes down to."
Nevertheless, Mass said he knows people who have been rushing out to look for their own personal stash of potassium iodide.
"People I was surprised at doing it," Mass said. "Very sane people."
Donn Moyer, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, said the ongoing statewide system that monitors for radioactive material is being checked closely. "We just have natural background levels," he said.
While the earthquake has caused a series of problems at some of Japan's nuclear reactors, "what hasn't happened is a major release of radioactive material to the upper atmosphere that could be carried around the world," he said.
It would typically take six to 10 days for any radioactive material from Japan to make its way through the atmosphere to reach the Northwest, he said.
Even if such an event occurred, by the time it reached the West Coast from Japan, "there would be no need for public health action," Moyer said. Wind and weather patterns would help to dilute it.
Goldbaum said that some people who are allergic to iodine can have severe reactions to the potassium iodide pills.
And people with thyroid conditions would need to talk to their doctor before taking the pills, even if they were recommended, he said.
Although potassium iodide pills are a non-prescription tablet, they may be difficult to find.
Six people, referred by local pharmacies, called the Snohomish Health District on Monday and Tuesday asking for the pills, spokeswoman Suzanne Pate said.
Neither the health district nor the state stockpiles the pills, although the federal government does have supplies in case of a nuclear emergency.
Bartell Drugs does not typically carry it in their stores, according to Theron Andrews, vice president of marketing.
The company does not have a regular supplier for the pills but has contacted several suppliers to try to stock the pills, Andrews said.
"There's no availability," he said.
Safeway pharmacies do not have potassium iodide in stock, said Cherie Myers, director of public and government affairs for Safeway. There have been some questions from customers about the pills, she added, and the product is on back order.
"The pill only protects parts of the body under specific conditions," she said. "The likelihood of anything happening is slim to none. A question would be why would somebody have it and why would they need it?"
Staff at Ed's Surplus and Marine in Lynnwood started keeping track of phone calls from customers asking if the store had any potassium iodide tablets in stock for purchase. The tablets have long been used for emergency water purification.
At least 15 people had phoned the store asking for the tablets by late Tuesday afternoon. Supervisor Cameron Ivison had to tell people the store did not have tablets to sell.
"I had the weekend off and after I left Friday I guess that's when all the calls started coming in on Saturday," he said.
The store has sold potassium iodide tablets in the past, Ivison said, but isn't having much luck finding more tablets to stock the shelves now.
"If we had any we would sell it," he said. "We cannot find any available right now."
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com
Learn more
The State Department of Health has a question-and-answer page on its website on the topic of radiation releases from damaged Japanese nuclear power plants.
tinyurl.com/Japan-faq
Comments
(
