Every resident in Essex County can now obtain potentially life-saving pills to protect them from radiation in case of an accident at one of the nearby U.S. nuclear power plants.
Every resident in Essex County can now obtain potentially life-saving pills to protect them from radiation in case of an accident at one of the nearby U.S. nuclear power plants.
The potassium iodide (KI) pills are available to people in Essex County and part of Chatham-Kent who live within range of Michigan’s Enrico Fermi 2 Nuclear Generating Station or the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Ohio. Dr. Wajid Ahmed, the acting medical officer of health for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, said taking the tablets in the wake of a nuclear accident can help prevent thyroid cancer.
“The most common thing that is released in the event of a nuclear emergency is the radioactive iodine,” he said. “Anyone who gets exposed to the radioactive iodine, it tends to get absorbed in the thyroid gland, and then potentially someone can develop thyroid cancer after some time.”
The health unit launched the potassium iodide distribution plan for the “primary zone” in April for households within 16.1 km of the nuclear power plants. Ahmed said Essex County’s primary zone included about 400 Amherstburg and Boblo Island home
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