News media outlets have been hyping the fact that radiation from the Japan reactors could reach the U.S. Their claims are based in truth however they provide no measurable facts. No numbers, no baseline radiation, no data of any kind, in other words, they are making people halfway around the world scared to go outside.
While nuclear radiation is nothing to take lightly, there are some way to measure the levels and determine if there are actually any facts or not.
How To Monitor Real Time U.S. Radiation Levels Online
Real-time monitoring networks such as Black Cat System’s Online US Ionizing Radiation Map and Radiation Network’s Real Time Radiation Monitoring Map offer maps that can give you peace of mind in emergencies like we’ve seen in Japan’s nuclear reactor meltdown.
These maps are just to give you a basic idea of the environment in the U.S. if you really want to invest in radiation monitoring in case of a disaster, dirty bomb attack, or full scale nuclear war, then you need to buy some basic equipment that is available online.
DON’T Take Potassium Iodide Unless You Are Exposed to Radiation
Don’t take Potassium Iodide unless and until elevated radiation levels hit your area.
Because of the fear that the radiation from the Japanese nuclear meltdowns will hit the Western United states, Potassium Iodide has sold out in most health food and supplement stores in many California, Oregon, and Washington locations.
People know that it’s good to take potassium iodide to protect against radiation, to help protect against thyroid cancer (potassium iodide does not protect any other organs).
But taking Potassium Iodide when there is no radiation can actually damage the thyroid gland.
Whatever you do, don’t take more than the recommended dosage. The Centers for Disease Control and the FDA recommend:
130 milligrams for adults
65 milligrams for children
Take every 24 hours. Because KI contains so much stable iodine, the thyroid gland becomes “full” and cannot absorb any more iodine—either stable or radioactive—for the next 24 hours. So when you take Potassium Iodide you prevent your body from absorbing the radiated KI
1 Response
My neighbor was a victim of the evil people marketing their product with the keywords radiation and Japan. The conversation was fun…..”See? Levels are low, with limited variance excluding those areas of higher altitude.” Areas like Colorado are slightly higher because of alternate source from our cosmos. It made my stats course worth something. The poor soul was told that a reading of 20 meant that 20% of the atmosphere was infected with radiation. Watch your source! There were websites selling those gas masks and iodide pills that will scare you to death to make their sale. Our world is mean.
Posted on March 28th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
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