'Brief radiation spike' after rocket engine blast in northern Russia

[helvella]

With the history of Chernobyl so recently revisited, anything even slightly related is going to hit the headlines.

But the reason I am posting is not about the incident itself, certainly not intending to cause concerns or worry. (I think the wind is blowing it in the oppostite direction.) No, it is about the reported response. What appears to be a staggeringly huge dose of iodine.

Obviously the dose depends on the strength, but I would have expected it to be reasonably strong. (Saying a number of drops without also saying what strength is rather slapdash, at best.) And when iodine is dosed, it is usual to recommend milk to help reduce the effect on the mouth and throat.

Maybe it is a mistake? A bad translation? If in the coming years we hear of thyroid issues in the area, perhaps we should think about the effects of iodine overdose and not just the possibility of radiation issues?

'Brief radiation spike' after rocket engine blast in northern Russia

"They advise everyone to close their windows and drink iodine, 44 drops per glass of water."

bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe...

[JGBH]

When did this happen? Must have missed the news... My grandson was in Moscow last week.

It will be interesting to see whether people will be affected in the years to come but we might never know.

[helvella Administrator in reply to JGBH]

The BBC story says "4 hours ago" - so, I'd guess, around 16:00 UTC (GMT) today, 08/08/2019.

[JGBH in reply to helvella]

Thank you. Relieved it was not last week when my grandson went to work at the company’s Moscow office. He might have to go back though so it’s a worry.

[sy28]

Any data reporting 'spike' in UK thyroid illness post- Chernobyl?

[helvella Administrator in reply to sy28]

There is quite a bit of research including this recent paper:

Long-Term Consequences of the Chernobyl Radioactive Fallout: An Exploration of the Aggregate Data.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/305...

It will be available in full as of 01/12/2019.

[Hafa in reply to helvella]

Thank you for providing this report. I live in France and my doctor said that in his estimation, he has seen a significant upswing in thyroid-related problems (including cancer) in the years after Chernobyl. We were told by our government that the cloud stopped at the border of France and Germany and we were safe. "The website of the Ministry of Industrie continues to say "the amount of radioactivity which effected France after Chernobyl is about 5 times lower than that of Germany and Italy". A new independent report proves them wrong. Almost 20 years after the Chernobyl (nuclear) disaster, report says the French authorities lied by omission at the time. In 1986 the authorities were aware of the degree of radioactivity of the Chernobyl cloud but didn't say everything on this issue." wecf.eu/english/articles/20...

[overnighthearingloss]

Had not heard of any recent stuff but there has been some reporting of an incident from 2 years ago.

livescience.com/66050-radia...

[Angel_of_the_North]

If there is a nuclear incident anyone nearby is supposed to take a fairly high (can't remember how much now) dose of potassium iodide to protect the thyroid, which would otherwise soak up the radiation. It has to be enough to saturate the thyroid so it doesn't absorb any radioactive iodine. I used to work in a nuclear power station.

[Poniesrfun]

In the US, the FDA has approved iodine tabs at 65 and 130 mg and solutions containing 1 mg per mL with a dose of 1 mL 65 mg).

If what is available in this instance was similar to a Lugol’s solution at a 2% concentration, at 2.5 mg per drop you’d need at least 26 drops to get to a minimum recommended dose and 52 drops to get to the higher 130 mg dose. And, of course, the 44 drops phrase was just a link to get you to the original page in Russian.

On the bright side - this is one less thing those of us who have had a TT need to worry about.

Patti In AZ

[diogenes Remembering]

That is a clear indication that the blast involved nuclear fission. The isotope 131-I would be produced by a partial fission of uranium. Looks like the missile contained some form of nuclear warhead which partly exploded, releasing the radioactive iodine. Highly unilkely that the missle would contain this per se. Russians are particularly lax in quality standards of things.

[Timetraveler67]

There was a leak at the nuclear power building at hickly point near burnham-on-sea when I was living there years ago. I remember hearing babies were being born disabled and breast cancer was also reported. I have no evidence to provide with my post but this really did happen when I was living there. Funny enough I got diagnosed with fm/cfs during this time I was living there.