Fallout Antidote Unneeded, County Officials Emphasize

At the Sav-On drugstore in Santa Ana, pharmacist Alan Layton had carefully deflected customers’ requests for potassium iodide, but a woman who approached the counter Thursday afternoon was a different case.

“She’s traveling to Scandinavia, so she might actually get some benefit from it,” he said.

Like other pharmacists in Orange County, Layton had received several inquiries about the drug since news of the Chernobyl nuclear accident broke on Monday. Potassium iodide, available only by prescription, fills the thyroid and prevents absorption of radioactive iodine from nuclear fallout.

“What I’ve been telling them is just what the national health people are telling them--that there probably won’t be any need for it,” Layton said. “I’ve told most people that before they do that, they should contact their doctor.”

Frank Robinson, a pharmacist at Orange Crest Drugs in Orange, said that his store doesn’t stock potassium iodide tablets, so he referred inquiries to a neighboring chiropractor, Dr. Joe Carr.

By Thursday afternoon, Carr had posted a sign indicating that he sells liquid iodine and potassium tablets separately, which he frequently prescribes for such problems as ovarian cysts or hypothyroid condition.

After one customer bought six bottles of the potassium tablets, Carr said that he had to send an assistant out for more.

Another customer showed a little more anxiety than may have been warranted. “He just knew he was going to die,” Carr said.

After receiving several inquiries about the dangers of fallout, Orange County Health Care Agency officials issued a statement stressing that potassium iodide consumption won’t be necessary. “There is no medical indication to issue potassium iodide,” said Bob Merryman, director of the county’s Environmental Health Department, “You issue it when you’ve got radioactivity. . . . In Poland and Sweden, they’d have reason to, but there’s no reason for us to even consider it.”

According to a prepared statement from Dr. Rex Ehling, the county’s health officer, radiation levels are expected to be very low. “Chernobyl is more than 12,000 miles from us, and even if radioactive particles enter the jet stream, they would become so diluted with other air particles that any increase in radiation levels would be negligible,” he said.

Merryman said his department, which usually takes monthly readings of radioactivity, has begun daily checks. But he said he expects to get only a minimal reading by Monday.

Merryman said that anyone with questions about the use of potassium iodide should call him at (714) 834-3155. In addition, information about radiation levels can be obtained by calling (714) 834-6884.

Some residents apparently want to conduct radiation tests for themselves. At Henry International, an Irvine firm that sells radiation-monitoring instruments, a spokeswoman said the company had received five calls inquiring about Geiger counters.

“It’s very unusual that we would receive calls from the public,” she said, adding that the lowest-priced equipment sells for about $350.