why are iodine tablets distributed around power plants?
A new preventive distribution campaign for stable iodine tablets was launched in September. The tablets can be collected from community pharmacies in each municipality located within a 10 km radius around certain French nuclear sites.
Individuals, establishments open to the public, businesses and communities are concerned. To find out if you are affected, Click here.
What is iodine?
Iodine is a trace element essential to our body, particularly for brain development and general metabolism. The thyroid gland naturally stores iodine where it participates in the synthesis of hormones thyroid.
It is found daily in enriched salt, seafood, fish and algae. But also in the meat of farmed animals fed with foods enriched with iodine.
What are iodine tablets used for?
The pellets are indicated in the event of release of radioactive iodine into the atmosphere during an accident nuclear. Stable iodine is used to protect populations exposed to radioactive iodines.
Stable or radioactive, iodine naturally binds to the thyroid; it does not differentiate. Breathed or swallowed, the radioactive iodine released into the environment thus attaches to the thyroid and accentuates the risk of thyroid cancer.
The idea, with taking stable iodine, is to saturate the thyroid gland so that radioactive iodine cannot attach to it.
People most at risk
The preventive distribution campaign is aimed at the entire population. However, certain groups of people are at greater risk of developing thyroid cancer:
- Newborns and children whose thyroid is still forming
- Pregnant and breastfeeding women (risks for the fetus and baby)
Fetuses, newborns and children are in fact more exposed because in adults, the gland fixes 25 to 30% of the iodine incorporated.
In children, the dose delivered is higher. “Approximately 6,500 cases of thyroid cancer in children have been documented at Chernobyl. For adults, the thyroid, which is more mature, has a very slow natural development and the risk of thyroid cancer is therefore much lower,” explains Inserm.
If preventive distribution is aimed at all populations, Inserm highlighted in 2022 that the massive intake of stable iodine after 40 years could have negative effects greater than the benefits.
“In fact, it can lead to deregulation of the organ and its production ofhormones. For example, by making the thyroid hyperactive (hyperthyroidism), heart rate and blood pressure disorders can occur as well as excess anxiety or hot flashes,” explains the scientific research organization.
When should you take the iodine tablet?
Stable iodine must only be ingested when the prefect gives instructions. It must be taken a few hours before the passage of a radioactive cloud, at the latest eight hours afterwards. Taken too long before, the medication completely loses its effectiveness and no longer protects the thyroid.
“In France, in line with the recommendations of the IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency – and the WHO, the threshold from which the thyroid must be protected is set at 50 millisieverts. When the experts’ forecasts exceed this threshold, the prefect gives the order to take the tablet,” explains the Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (INRS). If you take the tablet too early, the thyroid will no longer be saturated when the cloud passes.
How much iodine to take?
- From 12 years old and for adults and pregnant women: 2 tablets of 65 mg are necessary
- For children aged 3 to 122: 1 iodine tablet
- Babies from 1 month to 3 years: half an iodine tablet
- Newborns (up to 30 days): a quarter of an iodine tablet
To note : stable iodine only protects against radioactive iodine. It does not protect against other radioactive elements which can also be released into the atmosphere during a nuclear disaster; uranium, cesium, strontium. Shelter and evacuation of populations are recommended in this case.
