The State Department is playing it safe with U.S. personnel in Japan offering them potassium iodide pills to protect the thyroid gland against radiation,
The Hill reports. But the department also said in a travel warning that distribution of the pills is only a precaution and that they shouldn’t be taken unless the U.S. government issues a directive to do so.
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| Potassium Iodide pills (photo) |
“On March 21, 2011, consistent with NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] guidelines that apply to such a situation in the United States, the U.S. government is making available Potassium Iodide (KI) as a precautionary measure for United States government personnel and dependents residing within Nagoya, Tokyo, Yokohama and the prefectures of Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Iwate, Miyagi, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizouka, Tochigi, Yamagata, and Yamanashi,” the warning reads.
“The KI should only be consumed after specific instruction from the United States Government.”
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