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Prussian Blue for Radioactive Isotope Exposure by P.H.
Prussian Blue ("PB") is a safe treatment for
ingested radioactive isotopes that a person may have been exposed
to from
a dirty bomb or nuclear
explosion. It does not protect against radiation, nor treat
radiation sickness (there are supplement and drugs that help,
see below.) It does not protect against all known radioactive substances
(i.e., you
would want to take Potassium Iodide (KI) as
well to protect against radioactive iodine from a nuclear explosion.) It
isn't a substitute for evacuating out of the path of fallout, or for
taking shelter from fallout
in a
protected place. It's just one
useful tool in the toolbox should you and your family be exposed to
airborne particles of radioactive elements. And it can happen: the
number of countries with nuclear programs is growing every year, there
are nuclear reactor accidents (check a map for the reactors upwind
of your home), and we often hear about terrorists wanting to make "dirty
bombs" that spread radioactive material around.
Unfortunately, in spite of the government's encouragement to produce
Prussian Blue (PB) pills for the public, it's not available yet in
pill form. This means that if anybody wants this protection they're
going
to have to make the pills themselves - which, as it turns out, isn't
hard or expensive to do! Here's the information you'll need:
www.fda.gov
Med-countermeasures
Rad-incident-response
Internal
Course-brochure
Prussian-blue.pdf
Prussian Blue from this
supplier is chemically pure. (I'm sure you could
find other suppliers.)
MSDS
showing
it's safe:
Coleparmer.com
Canadagazette.gc.ca
"Approximately 800 cosmetic products, including 627 deodorants, contain
this substance identified as C.I. 77510. In the United States, the
use of Ferric Ferrocyanide is permitted to colour externally applied
drugs, including those for use in the area of the eye. In addition,
Ferric Ferrocyanide is recognized to be a safe and effective internal
treatment for thallium poisoning. This recommendation provides further
indication of the safety of this compound." - From the Wikipedia.
How
to put it in capsules (one
sample supplier, your local health
food
store should have these supplies.)
When you're putting it into capsules just realize that it's a very
fine powder. One little puff of wind can leave your kitchen table with
a coating of blue! It would probably be best to fill your capsules
in the garage, or at least put out newspapers to catch any dust that
gets away from you. Wear vinyl gloves or you'll have blue cuticles
for a while...
The likelihood that you'll ever need this is pretty small, but if you've
ever bought Potassium
Iodide tablets you should consider buying
this as well - and it's cheap! Be sure to follow the dosing instructions
at the aforementioned web sites from orau.gov!
Here is some
good additional information about nuclear reactors and fallout paths courtesy
of
Nitro-Pak.
As you may notice, the CDC .pdf
file on Prussian Blue advises people to not treat
themselves with the artist's pigment. [Prussian Blue, a.k.a. Preußisch
Blau or Berliner Blau.] So a little observation
and disclaimer may be in order:
1. Under ordinary circumstances, if a person were contaminated with
radioactive isotopes the prudent thing to do would be to go directly
to a hospital emergency room to be treated by a doctor for the problem.
(Well, decontaminate first...) Don't treat yourself!
2. In a regional or national disaster, local medical resources will
be quickly overwhelmed and persons contaminated with radiation are
not going to be able to be treated because there won't be enough to
go
around, or because access to advanced health care will be impractical
or impossible.
3. The information at the links I provided is specific enough for a
layman in a disaster to easily administer Prussian Blue in a safe manner.
4. It's possible that the PB that has been packaged for medicinal use
is in some fancy enteric coated capsule or otherwise more suitable
for treatment. And there's no arguing with the fact that artist's PB
was not intended to be used to treat this medical condition. However,
after considerable research I'm convinced that it can and will adequately
treat certain radioisotope contamination.
5. Safe administration basically boils down to obtaining a pure supply
in the first place. Some art supply places will not have pure pigments
(note: the treatment is with pure PB powdered pigment - not with paint
containing PB!). Shop around if you're not sure.
6. The observant person reading through all of the links will discover
that Potassium Iodide and Prussian Blue are only good for treating
ingestion of certain radioisotopes. If the contamination included other
radioactive elements, then additional treatments with specialized drugs
requiring injections or inhalation therapy will be necessary. But those
drugs require a prescription and are available only through the medical
profession's gateway - KI and
PB are readily available and safe for laypersons to use, and will not
harm the person even if there is no
contamination.
God forbid we'll ever need to actually take Prussian Blue, but if
we do, the odds are very good that the government is not going to
have
enough to go around, or to start you on a treatment right away.
JWR Adds: Pharmaceutically manufactured KI tablets
are available from a number of reputable Internet vendors, including JRH
Enterprises, Ready
Made Resources, Safe
Castle, Nitro-Pak, and KI4U.
In this post-9/11 era, it is impossible to predict when either a sub-critical
radioactive
dirty
bomb or a low yield fission bomb will be touched off upwind from
you--by some terrorist
or by a rogue state. Take the time to study nuclear effects protection.
At the
very minimum buy
a dosimeter, a rate meter, and some KI. Make NBC preparedness part
of your family's integrated preparedness plan. Following Richard
Fleetwood's guidelines, upgrade your retreat
basement to
fallout shelter specs. Or,
if your home lacks a basement, build a root cellar
near your house that doubles as a fallout shelter. There are lots of
free resources available
from The Oregon
Institute of Science and Medicine,
Doctors for Disaster
Preparedness,
and the Surviving
The Day After Discussion Forum. Also be sure to get a copy of Nuclear
War Survival Skills --a free downloadable book .(Print out a hard copy,
or just mail order a bound hard copy.)
