Iodine-131 near the plant dumped raw milk, while testing in the United States found 0.8 pico-curies per liter of iodine-131 in a milk sample, but the radiation levels were 5,000 times lower than the FDA's "defined intervention level". The levels were expected to drop relatively quickly A common treatment method for preventing iodine-131 exposure is by saturating the thyroid with regular, non-radioactive iodine-127, as an iodide or iodate salt. Free elemental iodine should not be used for saturating the thyroid because it is a corrosive oxidant and therefore is toxic to ingest in the necessary quantities. The thyroid will absorb very
Iodine in biology no more than 70 micrograms per day to synthesize the requisite daily amounts of T4 and T3. The higher recommended daily allowance levels of iodine seem necessary for optimal function of a number of other body systems, including lactating breasts, gastric mucosa, salivary glands, oral mucosa, arterial walls, thymus, epidermis, choroid plexus and cerebrospinal fluid, among others. Iodine and thyroxine have also been shown to stimulate the spectacular apoptosis of the cells of the larval gills, tail and fins during metamorphosis in amphibians, as well as the transformation of their nervous system from that of the aquatic, herbivorous tadpole into