Sales of iodine tablets increase: "There is no reason to take them"

Sales have increased "from zero to a hundred" since the war in Ukraine broke out, says Apotea's CEO Per Svärdson for Sydsvenskan.

- Everything sold out at once.

Our buyers have contacted the medicine companies to supplement, but everything is over there as well, he tells the newspaper.

However, there is no reason to take iodine tablets linked to events in Ukraine.

- There is no reason to take iodine tablets in Sweden based on that, says Peder Kock, investigator at the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority.

Reduces cancer risk in the event of an accident

Emissions of radioactive iodine occur in nuclear accidents.

With iodine tablets, you can then block the radioactive iodine, and thus reduce the risk of thyroid cancer.

Iodine tablets are already being distributed to everyone who lives near a nuclear power plant.

Something that has raised concerns about radioactive discharges is the fact that the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

However, since the reactors are no longer active, there is no risk of radioactive iodine being released.

- We want to emphasize that the last reactor closed over 20 years ago, says Peder Kock.

Small risk for Sweden

At the nuclear power plant, there is also reactor 4, where the major nuclear accident occurred in 1986. It is now enclosed in a giant sarcophagus.

Should the sarcophagus be damaged, there is a risk of radioactive waste leaking.

- In the immediate vicinity, problems can definitely arise.

But in Sweden, the possible consequences are on a completely different level, states Peder Kock.