日本大地震及海嘯引發核泄露事故后，與受災地區相鄰的國家和地區近日出現了搶購碘化鉀（即“碘片”）的熱潮。美國多家藥店碘片脫銷，主要供應商也不斷接到訂單和求購電話。在俄羅斯，因為25年前切爾諾貝利事件仍讓人心有余悸，藥店中的碘片也被人搶購一空。美國和加拿大的衛生部門表示，人們無需儲備大量碘片，而且人們對碘片的用途也存在很多誤區，它其實并不屬于防輻射藥物，而只是能夠防止輻射性碘引發甲狀腺癌。美國核管理委員會主席稱，放射性物質漂洋過海到達美國時威力已大減，民眾不用擔心被輻射。

碘片小知識

碘化鉀，俗稱碘片，其唯一用途就是防止放射性碘進入甲狀腺。碘片不能防止其它類型的輻射，也無法保護身體其它部位免受輻射。

碘化鉀有藥片和液體兩種形態，均為非處方藥，部分人服用后會有過敏癥狀。

碘化鉀對兒童和懷孕女性尤其重要，因為發育中的甲狀腺更活躍也更容易吸收輻射性碘，應在被輻射后幾小時內服用，不過對40歲以上的人藥效并不明顯。

Japan's nuclear crisis is spiking demand in the U.S. and a few other places for a cheap drug that can protect against one type of radiation damage — even though the risk is only in Japan.

Japan's nuclear crisis is spiking demand in the U.S. and a few other places for a cheap drug that can protect against one type of radiation damage — even though the risk is only in Japan.

Health agencies in California and western Canada warned Tuesday that there's no reason for people an ocean away to suddenly stock up on potassium iodide. Some key suppliers say they're back-ordered and are getting panicked calls from potential customers.

"Tell them, `Stop, don't do it,'" said Kathryn Higley, director of radiation health physics at Oregon State University.

"There's a lot of mythology about the use of potassium iodide," added Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician and disaster preparedness specialist at Columbia University. "It's not a radiation antidote in general."

The pill can help prevent radioactive iodine from causing thyroid cancer, for which children are most at risk in a nuclear disaster.

Japan's Nuclear Safety Agency has stored potassium iodide to distribute in case of high radiation exposure, and the U.S. Navy is giving it to military crews exposed to radiation as they help with relief efforts in Japan. But government and independent experts say that Americans have little to fear from any radiation released by the damaged Japanese nuclear plant.

"You just aren't going to have any radiological material that, by the time it traveled those large distances, could present any risk to the American public," said Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Greg Jazcko.

Other governments echoed that warning.

"We do not expect any health risk following the nuclear reactor releases in Japan, nor is the consumption of potassium iodide tablets a necessary precaution," British Columbia's health ministry told the public Tuesday.

In Russia, where memory of the very different Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago is strong, media reports said pharmacies in Vladivostok, a major port just west of Japan, had run out of the pills.

What does this drug do?

Potassium iodide, a salt also known as KI, has just one use: It shields the thyroid from radioactive iodine. It blocks no other type of radiation, and protects no other body part.

The drug, either pill or liquid form, is sold over-the-counter and is considered safe, although some people may experience allergic reactions.

Potassium iodide is most important for children and pregnant women, because a growing thyroid is much more active and more likely to absorb radioactive iodine, said Columbia's Redlener. It should be given within a few hours of radiation exposure — but isn't considered that useful for people over age 40.

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(Agencies)

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）