The attack on the nuclear plant of Zaporizhia, the largest in Europe, in the midst of war in Ukraine evoked memories of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Fear and concern about a nuclear accident has led people to buy iodine pills. In addition to the increase in sales of these pills in Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, France, Slovakia and the Netherlands, there is an increase in Greece, with pharmacists recommending calm.

“There is indeed a big increase, there is no reason for anyone to get it if something has not happened. “There is indeed a shortage, but it is not something terrible because it is a very common preparation,” said pharmacist Giorgos Nychas to MEGA television.

In exposure to radioactivity, iodine can protect against the development of thyroid cancer, with experts stressing that at this stage no need to take a pill. “People should know that iodine deficiency is for thyroid cancer, it does not prevent all types of cancer,” says clinical pharmacologist Anastasios Spanideas.

The price of iodine preparations ranges from 15 to 30 euros and are administered without a prescription.

Lack in other countries as well

As Nikolay Kostov, president of the Bulgarian Pharmacists’ Association, told Reuters, pharmacists have sold the last six days of iodine they normally sell in one year.

There was a huge increase in demand in Poland, while similar indications are presented in Belgium, France and the Netherlands, although these countries are further away from Ukraine.

In Belgium, about 30,000 people took iodine pills, which are normally offered free of charge by pharmacies, according to the Brussels Times.

Iodine, given as a pill or syrup, can be used to protect against the development of thyroid cancer, which can be caused by exposure to radioactivity. However, if someone has not been exposed to radioactivity, taking iodine does not protect them from something, but on the contrary can prove to be harmful.

European authorities said this week that they did not need to take iodine at the moment and that this would not help in the event of a nuclear war. “The current situation in Ukraine does not require iodine pills,” the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control wrote on Twitter. “Take iodine only on the recommendation of the authorities.”

Dana Drabova, head of the Czech nuclear security service, also wrote on Twitter: “Many ask about iodine pills. “As protection from radioactivity, when (God forbid) nuclear weapons are used, they are basically useless.”