How to protect yourself in the years to come against radiation fallout?

I originally posted this on another thread, but I feel it deserves its own place. Since we are kept in the dark about the possibility and dangers of long-term nuclear contamination fallout, I would like to know what we can do to protect ourselves. Yes, sure I have heard of iodine, but that's only a short-term solution and can't be taken for months or years. I've also heard about kelp, but does anyone know what (natural) substances can be taken as a precautionary measure against potential fallout?

Easy just play Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas, explains everything!!! I'm sorted.

just watch out for Mutant Cockroaches.

reply to post by Mdv2


One thing. One tip. Try to drink filtered water. Water that has been purified by reverse osmosis. I don't drink tap water and I don't give it to my pets. Tastes better, too!

Originally posted by Mdv2
I've also heard about kelp, but does anyone know what (natural) substances can be taken as a precautionary measure against potential fallout?

I don't know if you're even asking the right question, so I'm going to answer a slightly different question than you asked there, but it's more of an answer to the title of the thread:

How can you protect yourself and your family?

I've got nothing against Kelp if that's your thing, but that's not on my list even though it might have helped back when we were getting iodine exposure. The half-life of iodine is so short, that exposure should be pretty minimal by now so kelp isn't even on my list anymore.

The best advice I've heard is from this video:

U.S. Radiation: Where Is All That Fukushima Radiation Going, and Why Does it Matter?


So related to radioactive dust contamination, here are some simple things you may already be doing, but you can do them more thoroughly and/or frequently:

Good dust hygiene (discussed around 14 minutes into the video):
Wash your hands frequently, especially after handling anything outside
Wash your produce more thoroughly. Not a bad idea to remove pesticides, but now also radioactive dust.
Take your shoes off at the entrance to your house to keep from dragging radioactive dust inside.

Regarding diet, the only change I plan right now is to cut back even more on fish until I get some reassurance they're not radioactive, especially if they are from the Pacific ocean. We need to lobby the FDA to do more fish testing until we're sure all the leaks into the ocean are stopped, and for months afterward.

Now finally I'll get back to your question about protective or healing substances in the diet:

Lifestyle factors, radiation and gastric cancer in atomic-bomb survivors (Japan).

CONCLUSIONS:

In this Japanese population, although radiation and smoking were strong determinants of stomach cancer, no supportive evidence could be shown for the effect of dietary factors.

Based on what I know about radiation (I was formerly a radiation worker licensed by the NRC to handle radioactive materials), this result is exactly what I'd expect.

The way to reduce your risk is to minimize your contact with the radioactivity as much as possible which is why I mentioned the dust hygiene, etc.

Once you ingest it, it will cause damage no matter what food you eat, it's inevitable. So the lack of any dietary correlation is not surprising to me. I hear claims from people about diet benefits, but I have yet to see them scientifically documented, but I'm open minded if anyone has some scientific studies on that to share. Personally without that verification, I wouldn't believe most of the unsupported claims being thrown around, though the kelp may have helped back when iodine was a concern, but most of that iodine concern has passed I think, since we are now left with mostly the longer half-life isotopes.