In Denmark there was a rush to buy iodine tablets. It has already happened in other countries, for example in France, when the danger of a nuclear attack or accident grows: ingesting an iodine tablet (or rather, potassium iodide, KI) would reduce the negative effects on the thyroid, one of the most sensitive organs risk of developing tumors and malformations after exposure to high levels of radiation.
But what is due to this sudden increase in the purchase of drugs? The Danish National Agency for Emergency Management has published a series of advice on how to protect oneself from a nuclear emergency, and citizens have read this move – in a country where institutional transparency is a dogma – as a signal that the risk nuclear suddenly got higher.
Kresten Breddam, head of the radiation protection unit at the Danish Health Authority, spoke to “DR”, the public radio-television, specifying that over the age of 40 the effect of potassium iodide tablets on human health is less marked. “The most important advice, in the event of an accident, is to stay at home.” The World Health Organization (WHO) also advises against taking iodine tablets for people over the age of 40, because “no connection has been found between exposure to radioactive iodine and thyroid cancer in this age group of age”. For those who are younger, however, the advice is to always carry them with you, so as to be able to take one as soon as the authorities raise the alarm.
Denmark, with almost six million inhabitants and ninth among the richest countries in the world, does not use atomic energy, but Finland, Sweden and France are equipped with nuclear power plants, which could, in the event of an accident, have effects on Danish soil . Breddam also highlighted what can happen in the Baltic and the North Sea: “Every now and then Russian icebreakers, powered by nuclear reactors, pass through our seas. In the event of a failure, radioactive substances can spread into the air.”
Russia is the only country in the world to build and operate nuclear-powered icebreakers, and has several under construction. It is also the only country in the world that still has a cargo ship powered by a nuclear reactor, the “Sevmorput”. The United States, Japan and Germany, which had experimented with this type of vessel in the past, have in the meantime all dismantled or converted them with diesel engines.
The authorities do not expressly speak of an increase in risk, but since they had to update their recommendations, “it was right to include a broad spectrum of possibilities”, explains Beddam on public television. Immediately after the publication of this advice, many Danes rushed to buy medicines and useful objects in case of an accident, and iodine tablets reportedly ran out in many cities. Also because they must be of a particular type, available only in pharmacies: “in the supplements found in supermarkets and herbalist’s shops, for example, there is not enough iodine”, concludes Beddam.
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