The price of iodine tablets have doubled from $30 per bottle to $70 as victims of the war are panic buying to mitigate potential radiation threats.
Putin on Sunday told the world that he’s putting his nuclear forces on special alert as a response to aggression coming from the West to stop the war. Ukrainian citizens and neighbours are fearful of a nuclear war especially after the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia, was seized by Russian troops.
Similar to the panic purchase of household goods during the pandemic, war victims are preparing for the worst by hauling as much iodine tablets as they can. With the takeover of Zaporizhzhia, people are more fearful resulting in a larger demand for iodine tables to be expected in the coming days.
Iodine tablets are said to help in protecting people from the harmful exposure of nuclear radiations.
However, there is a difference between non-radioactive iodine and over the counter iodine. With over the counter iodine, various health concerns like heart attacks could be a side effect. Without the consent of a health practitioner, iodine should not be consumed. With non-radioactive iodine, a blockage is created in the thyroid which prevents the development of thyroid cancer.
France’s government has sent iodine and medical equipment to Ukraine in support of the fight against the Russia invasion.
In Belgium last Thursday, 56k packs of iodine tablets were distributed with 30k Belgian citizens rushing to panic buy.
Nikolay Kostov, the chair of the Pharmacies Union, said that Bulgarian pharmacies had sold as much iodine in the past six days as they usually sold each year.