County public health officials are offering free doses of the radiation-blocking drug potassium iodide to people who live and work downwind of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
The pills, also known by their chemical name KI, are available at six locations. They are only to be taken at the direction of public health officials in the event of a radiation leak at Diablo Canyon.
The county has enough doses to cover hundreds of thousands of people, said Michelle Shoresman, spokeswoman for the county public health department. They will be available as long as supplies last, which should be a year or so.
“We should have enough for everyone in the county who wants it,” she said.
Potassium iodide is not a panacea for all exposure to radiation. However, it is effective in preventing the thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive iodide, a compound that would be plentiful in a radiation release, if the pills are taken within four hours of exposure. The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine led to an increase in thyroid cancer diagnoses.
Brochures containing a voucher for obtaining the pills were mailed to every home and business in the emergency planning zone surrounding the nuclear plant. The zone is a large swath of the county that stretches from Cayucos to the Nipomo Mesa and as far inland as San Luis Obispo and could possibly be downwind of the plant in the event of a radiation release.
Participation in the distribution is voluntary. The vouchers can be used to obtain supplies of potassium iodide to cover entire households and office workforces. Nearly 150,000 people live in the emergency planning zone.
This is the second time potassium iodide has been made available to the public. The first distribution occurred in 2003, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The shelf life of those pills will expire at the end of the year.
“This is a follow-up to the old process so that people will have it in their homes in case they are told to use it,” Shoresman said.
Half of the new pills were supplied by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and half by the state Office of Emergency Services. In all, the county has 20,000 boxes of KI pills with each box containing 20 child doses or 10 adult doses, said Ron Alsop, county emergency services coordinator.
For more information about the county’s potassium iodide program, call 788-2903.
Where to get potassium iodide tablets
• The Medicine Shoppe, 1199 Los Osos Valley Rd., Los Osos
• Best Care Pharmacy, 1590 W. Grand Ave., Grover Beach
• Dana’s Health Plus, 948-A Foothill Blvd, San Luis Obispo
Or county Public Health offices at:
• 760 Morro Bay Blvd, Morro Bay
• 286 S. 16th St., Grover Beach
• 2191 Johnson Ave., San Luis Obispo
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
Be the first to know what's going on in San Luis Obispo County. Just tell us how you want to find out — we'll take care of the rest.
Sign up for breaking news alerts from SanLuisObispo.com and get the latest news sent to your cell phone via text message.
By signing up for alerts from this site, you are signing up for a program that may include up to 5 SMS text alert(s) per alert category per day. There is no service fee charged per month but your carrier's standard text messaging and other charges may apply. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending the text message "STOP" to 72737. You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use our alert services. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you agree that you have received parental permission both to complete the registration process and to receive SMS content on your cell phone. For help, send the text message "HELP" to 72737. This service will work with ATT, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, Alltell, US Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, Boost, Virgin Mobile USA, Celluar South, Telos, Centennial, East Kentucky Network, Cellcom, Immix and Rural Celluar.
E-mail »
Twitter »
Facebook »
iTribune »
Subscribe »
RSS »
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.