A newly published ophthalmic case report questions the unregulated sales of antiradiation tablets marketed as part of nuclear apocalypse “go bags.”
John A. Moran Eye Center ophthalmologist and researcher Paul S. Bernstein, MD, PhD, describes a rare case of a 42-year-old woman who ingested a large number of 170-mg potassium iodate (KIO3) tablets from her family’s emergency preparedness kit as part of a suicide attempt.
Published in Retinal Cases & Brief Reports, the case report says the potassium iodate tablets were marketed without a prescription as a means to avoid radiation damage to the thyroid in case of a nuclear apocalypse. The recommended dosage ranged from one tablet daily for 3-14 days for persons 12 years or older to one-eighth to one-fourth of a tablet for three days in a newborn. There were typically 60 pills in a bottle, and the patient was unsure how many she ingested. She noted substantial loss of vision immediately after she awoke from her coma.
During an appointment with Bernstein, 11 years after she took the tablets, the woman had widespread damage to her retinas (the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye) and severe vision loss in both eyes: 20/60 and 20/200. While only a few cases of iodate toxicity have been reported in previous literature, the woman’s retinal damage matched other cases, Bernstein says.
A retina specialist who studies nutritional interventions against eye disease, Bernstein explains that while potassium iodate is a low-dose addition to iodized table salt, scientists have long known the dangers of high doses for vision. Researchers have used potassium iodate to create animal models of retinal disease for almost a century. For a 70-kg (155-pound) adult human, Bernstein wrote, a toxic dose that will degenerate the retina would be just eight to 16 170-mg tablets, whereas one-third of a tablet could be toxic for a 3-kg (7-pound) newborn.
Yet potassium iodate pills, marketed as an essential component of nuclear apocalypse “go bags,” have no specific warnings of the risk of permanent blindness with overdosage, says Bernstein.
“This unique case report of iodate toxicity due to antiradiation pills is concerning because their sale is unregulated in the United States, and there is little margin of safety at the recommended dosages, especially for young children,” wrote Bernstein in the report. “In light of the current worries by the public about potential nuclear conflicts and accidents, this product’s lack of regulation and oversight should be reconsidered.”