# anti radiation pills **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2001, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967 "2001-10-02T13:42:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/1 "2001-10-02T13:42:24Z")
Do they work? What if America were subjected to an attack? Would taking those pills I’ve heard about protect us? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/2 "2001-10-02T13:47:35Z")
The ones I’m familiar with are basically iodine pills. The thyroid gland is very susceptible to the effects of iodine, so if you flood it with non-radioactive iodine, it won’t absorb the radioactive stuff that would come after a nuclear attack. However, the pills (correct me if I’m wrong, someone) can’t protect against radioactive strontium, cobalt or other minerals, and they sure won’t do anything against fallout. ---
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/3 "2001-10-02T14:05:13Z")
[Do radiation-nullifying pills actually work?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_239a.html) ---
**Author:** ![geepee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/4 "2001-10-02T15:13:53Z")
depends really how the attack is carried out dirty ground level detonations cause major damage and lots of fall out due to dust being sucked up into the explosion so if you surivived the blast they would help somewhat from fallout stuff mid high atitude , causes more damage than ground detonation and little fallout compared to ground explosions , iodine pills less useful , and you would have to survive the blast which is a bigger area that the ground method of delivery very high altitudes would just fry your electronics and cause barely any fall out , like in Golden Eye so , since a terrorist would prolly use a ground nuke in a suitcase (a very big 300lb suitcase mind you) it would most likely be on the ground , which would cause major major fall out , possibly could be fissoned in the air but i real think they would have major problems getting such devices on to civil airlines aircraft , dunno about private planes however ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/5 "2001-10-02T15:59:36Z")
Cecil said: > [@](#): > > To prevent this, you can take a dose of a benign chemical called potassium iodide before a nuclear attack. While it is beyond me to question Cecil on this, or anything else, how exactly are you supposed to know that a nuclear attack is coming? My guess is that there isn’t going to be a blurb on the evening news, “Don’t forget to take some potassium iodide tonight, as we are expecting a light nuclear attack sometime before noon tomorrow.” ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/6 "2001-10-02T16:38:16Z")
The iodine pills are kept in storage in case of a leak from a reactor rather than in preparation for attack. Places like navy dockyards with nuclear powered vessels as things are more likely to go wrong during refits than most any other time. ---
**Author:** ![geepee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/7 "2001-10-02T22:55:06Z")
if its a nuclear H bomb warhead missile , you’ll look up at the sky and think whats that black thing , then suddenly be turned into a superheated gas with no electrons , plasma that is , you’ll see the start of the flash of light before it burns out your retinas , also you don’t hear about it either since the shockwave travels faster than sound and your nerve impluses so no pain either , but since we still don’t have an ABM the government probably wouldn’t tell us about it they would be too busy getting into their bunkers i mean what can you do if you have a nuke with your name on it? ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/8 "2001-10-03T00:04:51Z")
This is the first I’ve heard that radioactive fallout contains a lot of radioactive iodine. I wasn’t aware of that. Does anyone know where I can get the stats on the components of fallout? I’ve looked around a bit and haven’t seen much of anything. One thing to consider is that the radioactive isotope of iodine, to really do much damage, would have to be an alpha or beta emitter, such as I-131. Other isotopes of iodine, that just release gamma photons, wouldn’t do much harm. That’s why I’m curious to find out which isotopes of iodine would be abundant in average fallout. You may not even need that kind of thyroid protection. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/9 "2001-10-03T05:00:54Z")
The iodine isotope that would be in fallout is I-131, a beta (and gamma) emitter with a half-life of about 8 days. I don’t know what percentage of fallout would be I-131, but it might depend on the type of weapon. The other fission products to worry about (the most) are Sr-90 and Cs-137, both of which are more persistent than I-131 and also biologically active. I don’t think either one is as easy to keep out of your body as I-131. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/10 "2001-10-03T23:43:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adam yax \* > \*\*Cecil said: > > > [@](#): > > > > To prevent this, you can take a dose of a benign chemical called potassium iodide before a nuclear attack. > > While it is beyond me to question Cecil on this, or anything else, how exactly are you supposed to know that a nuclear attack is coming? > > My guess is that there isn’t going to be a blurb on the evening news, “Don’t forget to take some potassium iodide tonight, as we are expecting a light nuclear attack sometime before noon tomorrow.” \*\* Uh, it’s not unreasonable. I mean, that’s what the whole EBS system and such was designed for. At the very least, you get 30 minutes warning. The radiation isn’t going to be a concern for a bit after that. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/11 "2001-10-04T01:15:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by geepee \* > **…so , since a terrorist would prolly use a ground nuke in a suitcase (a very big 300lb suitcase mind you) it would most likely be on the ground…** It wouldn’t necessarily be that large. Likely, but not necessarily. We built warheads that produced yields measured in 10’s to hundreds of tons, that weigh-in at about 55 pounds (warhead for Davey Crocket missile, fer example). Fortunately, those are retired, but 155mm Nuke shells still exist, and weigh-in around 125 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/12 "2001-10-04T02:10:25Z")
\*\* [/QUOTE] Uh, it’s not unreasonable. I mean, that’s what the whole EBS system and such was designed for. At the very least, you get 30 minutes warning. The radiation isn’t going to be a concern for a bit after that. \*\* [/QUOTE] The EBS system is predicated on missile attack. In the age of terrorism, the only warning you may get is a blinding flash. BTW, the radiation would be an instantaneous hazard in outlying areas. ---
**Author:** ![geepee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-radiation-pills/84967/13 "2001-10-04T10:46:57Z")
well i was refering to nuke suit cases of russian origin since they would (i assume) be easier to aquire due to the decintigration of the soviet union and its republics , and theirs are really really big (i had a discussion the other night with a guy on IRC who is JANEs database on legs)