Radiation Concerns from Current Middle East War

#56 2025 The Rowen Report

Sear Subscriber,

With war in the Middle East, and the focus on nuclear capabilities, I’ve been asked about prevention from contamination.

Right now, Israel is attacking uranium enrichment facilities. That means that fissionable products could be released into the atmosphere, particularly uranium. Uranium is toxic by itself. It is a heavy metal and releases radiation very slowly. Its main toxicity is not its radiation but its direct heavy metal poisoning effect on kidneys and other organs. But uranium is not the product of fission. Uranium, a heavy metal, it simply toxic on its own, regardless of the very small amount of radioactivity it carries.

Fission is the use of uranium or other fissile materials to break apart atomic nuclei to release vast amounts of energy, whether for weapons or hopefully civilian power generation. The products of fission can include radioactive iodine, which is highly radioactive and can hit your thyroid. The half like of I-131, released from nuclear fission is 8 days. Iodine is RAPIDLY taken up by your thyroid, and with this short half-life of the radioactive variety, your thyroid could be significantly exposed. The prevention for this is to consume potassium iodine ahead of time, to saturate your thyroid so that the I-131 bypasses your thyroid and is eliminated by your kidneys before concentrated in the gland.

There are many products that can help you here. Among the list include Iodoral, Lugols Iodine, and Alex Jones Survival Shield. These products have iodine in both nutritional forms: as the potassium salt and molecular iodine (I₂). Both forms serve nutritional purposes, and I have personally used all three, and still take one or the other a few times a week. I think it is valuable to have one of these on hand, and to take intermittently regardless. But if there was a nuclear explosion or radiation release from an atomic plant, I would certainly max it out at the full recommended dose on the label.

Iodide is more important for the thyroid. Iodine may be superior for breast protection and some other glands. I like products that have both iodine and iodide. I personally believe that molecular iodine can help prevent breast cancer and modulate estrogen’s toxic proliferative effect on mammary cells.

I don’t think you need to worry about possible fissile materials (uranium) release from destruction of enrichment plants. Perhaps the local people will, sadly. Regardless, regular detox is advisable for all heavy metals. It is for that reason I take EDTA suppositories in the form of a product called Detoxamin, 1500 mg rectally weekly. Uranium is attracted to EDTA, but this is not necessarily an efficient way of getting this heaviest of naturally occurring metals out of a living organism. EDTA works well in the chem lab on uranium. A good review article on this can be found here. Perhaps a better agent for removing uranium ions is citrate, very common and safe organic acid.

Summary - fissile materials are NOT the product of fission. They are precursors. Products of fission are quite radioactive and if we are exposed, there can be serious consequences. Iodine supplements can prevent the worst of exposure to radioactive iodine. I can only hope and pray that we NEVER see a release of products of fission under any circumstances. My generation did, and heavily, from fallout during the nuclear test era of the 50s and 60s from both the USA and Soviet Union. May that never happen again, as well.

To Your Excellent Health!

Robert Jay Rowen, MD