Anti-Radiation Pills
Source: Indian Express
GS II: Policies and Developmental Studies

What is discussed under Anti-Radiation Pills?

1. What are anti-radiation pills?
2. How do anti-radiation pills protect the thyroid?
3. Limits of anti-radiation pill use
4. What is a radiation emergency?

Why in News?

• As worries of a nuclear accident at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant rise, the European Union has made the decision to provide 5.5 million anti-radiation tablets as a preventative measure to be given out to locals.
• People who are receiving the tablets are being instructed to wait until a radioactive leak has been verified before taking them.

What Are Anti-Radiation Pills?

• In situations of radiation exposure, potassium iodide (KI) tablets, also known as anti-radiation pills, are believed to offer some protection.

  

• They include non-radioactive iodine and can aid in preventing the thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive iodine and concentrating it there.
• Radioactive iodine
  • Radioactive iodine may be discharged into the environment during radiation emergencies, which are often nuclear power plant accidents.
  • It may then enter the body by inhalation or ingestion.
  • This is called internal contamination.
  • Many years after exposure, thyroid cancer risk can increase in newborns, kids, and young adults when the thyroid absorbs high doses of radioactive iodine.

How do anti-radiation pills protect the thyroid?

• Both KI and radioactive iodine are forms of iodine.
• The thyroid absorbs both of them in.
• A person must consume KI before or soon after exposure to radioactive iodine for it to be effective.
• The thyroid can be prevented from absorbing radioactive iodine when the appropriate dose and timing of KI are used.
• This occurs because the thyroid cannot absorb radioactive iodine because it has already filled with KI.

Limits of anti-radiation pill use

• Only radioactive iodine is protected against by KI; other forms of radiation are not protected.
• KI only safeguards the thyroid; other body parts are not covered by KI.
• To be most effective, KI must be taken within 24 hours before or four hours after exposure.
• KI is not a remedy and cannot repair thyroid damage that has already occurred.
• A person may not be completely protected against radioactive iodine by KI.
• They are recommended for people under 40 years of age.

What Is a Radiation Emergency?

• These are accidental incidents that pose a radiological risk to both people and the environment.
• Such circumstances entail exposure to radiation from a radioactive source and the need for quick action to lessen the danger.
• Anti-radiation pills are also needed to handle such a situation.

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