Society News Archive

16 August 2002

KI Fact Sheets

The Health Physics Society has released two Fact Sheets on Potassium Iodide. They can be accessed on the Radiation Fact Sheet page of this Web site.

One Fact Sheet, titled "Is Potassium Iodide a "Magic Bullet" for Radiation Exposure?" is a brief answer to the question that has recently found its way into the public media. The other Fact Sheet, titled "Fact Sheet on Potassium Iodide (KI)" is a more detailed sheet providing the facts about KI, its use, its capabilities, and its limitations.

The Health Physics Society's Public Education Committee has developed these two Fact Sheets. The detailed Fact Sheet is based on one originally developed by Dr. Kenneth Miller, a Certified Health Physicist with the Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania, and member of the Health Physics Society.

The Society has not taken, nor does it intend to take, a formal position on stockpiling and distribution of KI to the general public since this involves social and economic considerations beyond the area of "radiation science and safety," which is its members' area of expertise. However, the Society does want decisions on this issue to be based on good science and has issued these two Fact Sheets explaining the facts of the health and science aspects of the use of KI following a radiological incident, with the hope of helping policy makers and members of the general public to make informed decisions.