Following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster in April, 1986, a saturated solution of potassium iodide was administered to 10.5 million children and 7 million adults in Poland as a prophylactic measure against accumulation of radioactive iodine-131 in the thyroid gland. People in the areas immediately surrounding Chernobyl itself, however, were not given the supplement.
It was reported on March 16, 2011, that potassium iodide tablets were given to U.S. Naval air crew members flying within 70 nautical miles of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant damaged in the massive Japanese earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011.
This bottle has been in his refrigerator in New York since days following 9/11.
