North Olympic Peninsula residents worried about radiation from Japan have rushed health food stores and pharmacies seeking potassium iodide while pharmacists and store owners reassured customers that stocking up on the supplement wasn’t necessary.
Dr. Tom Locke, public health official for Clallam and Jefferson counties, issued a notice to pharmacists Tuesday notifying them that the North Olympic Peninsula is not at risk for radiation poisoning from Japanese nuclear reactors damaged in last week’s earthquake and tsunami.
Two supplements, potassium iodide and Prussian blue, are commonly used to fight radiation poisoning, Locke said.
Potassium iodide can protect the thyroid gland if taken before or shortly after a person is exposed to radioactive iodine, the Centers for Disease Control said on its website, www.bt.cdc.gov, adding that it does not protect other body parts or prevent damage from other radioactive substances.
“It has the potential for significant side effects and is contraindicated in some medical conditions,” Locke said in a statement forwarded to pharmacies and health care providers by Jefferson County Public Health.
Prussian blue is available only by prescription to remove radioactive cesium, the Centers for Disease Control said.
Locke said public health officials are worried because a dye called Prussian blue shares its name with the medication. The dye is toxic and has no protective effects.
“It shouldn’t be taken for any reason at any time,” Locke said.
“The risks of these medications far, far outweigh any potential benefit — and, in fact, there is no benefit based on what we know right now,” Locke said.
“People can get serious allergic reactions, stomach problems, a very nasty rash.
“Even when people do take the significant doses necessary to protect, the effect is very minimal in such situations.”
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office also sent out a notice from the state Department of Health saying that precautionary air monitoring has found no elevated readings and that the department “expects no public health risk in Washington” after an explosion at a nuclear reactor in Japan on Saturday.
Workers at Country Aire in Port Angeles, Sunny Farms in Carlsborg, The Food Co-op and Don’s Pharmacy in Port Townsend, and Chinook Pharmacy in Forks all said they had customers seeking potassium iodide, which isn’t regularly stocked because it is needed so rarely.
Although orders were on standby, suppliers were running low, and it could be weeks before supplements arrive.
Linda Warder, manager of Country Aire in Port Angeles, said the rush began Saturday.
“It isn’t something we keep stocked,” she said.
“My suppliers all said they were out for now. There are online drug companies, but most of them I wouldn’t touch since I haven’t dealt with them before.”
She said she had been in contact with pharmacists at Jim’s Pharmacy in Port Angeles, who she said also didn’t have the over-the-counter supplements available.
The store also ran out of kelp, which is high in iodine.
Patty Jenkins, supplement manager at Sunny Farms in Carlsborg, said she had been inundated with calls and visits by customers looking for potassium iodide.
“We don’t carry it on a regular basis,” she said.
She said she is suggesting that customers eat a healthy diet with kelp, fruits and vegetables with potassium and to stay away from sugar if they are worried.
“The best thing people can do is eat a healthy diet,” she said.
Don Hoglund, owner of Don’s Pharmacy in Port Townsend, said he had a lot of interest but that he was ordering only a liquid prescription form of potassium iodide.
“Based on what we’re seeing, we’re not seeing an imminent need,” he said. “But we want to be prepared if our customers are looking for it.
“There have been some orders from physicians but not a great magnitude of orders yet.”
Brwyn Griffin, marketing manager for The Food Co-op in Port Townsend, said the organization had been in touch with a potassium iodide supplier.
“It looks like our providers are about two weeks out of being restocked,” she said.
“Kelp is easier to restock, so we will have some of that in, but most people seem to want the supplements.”
Chuck Carlson, lead pharmacist of Chinook Pharmacy in Forks, said he had a few calls and has potassium iodide on order.
Locke said he was in constant touch with state and federal officials who are monitoring radiation.
“One thing that is fortunate is that radionuclides are easy to detect and can be detected in minute quantities, and they can analyze the atmosphere for them,” he said.
“This is not a silent threat. It is something we are capable of monitoring.”
He emphasized that there was no likelihood of radioactive particles making it through the air over the Pacific Ocean. They are far too heavy and fall from the air within a very small radius of where they begin.
He said food supplies and water supplies also would be monitored in case any contamination made its way to the Peninsula in that way, adding that was highly unlikely.
“Even in the event of a significant release from the reactor, radiation would be diluted before reaching our state, and levels would be so low, no protective action would be necessary,” the state Department of Health said.
“In my opinion, the real risk on a public health level is of having an earthquake here,” Locke said.
“The best thing people can do is be prepared for that.
“We are trying to encourage people to have emergency home kits, emergency food supply and water.
“Japan was a very well-prepared nation, and they are still finding all kinds of gaps.
“If we are to benefit in any way from this terrible tragedy, it is to intensify our own earthquake preparedness.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
