Why did people rush to buy iodized salt this morning?

1. There is no need to rush to buy salt. "The supermarket near my home has run out of salt, and some people are buying salt by the box." Yesterday, residents in many cities in Guangdong reported that salt was being snapped up. Some merchants also took the opportunity to raise prices, with a pack of salt selling for more than 10 yuan. The reporter immediately rushed to the supermarket and encountered citizens rushing to buy salt. Even Australian imported salt, which usually no one cares about, was sold out... In addition to Guangdong, citizens in Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and other places were rushing to buy iodized salt. Buyers are worried about the impact of leakage from Japan's nuclear power plants on the human body. Eating iodized salt can prevent nuclear radiation. Some are worried that seawater is contaminated by radioactive substances and that salt can no longer be refined. Citizens' rush to buy salt has directly led to a shortage of salt. Is such panic buying necessary? The answer is: not at all. -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ------------- Salt grabbing has occurred in many places in Guangdong. Some merchants took the opportunity to raise the price and sell a pack of salt for more than 10 yuan. "The supermarket near my home has run out of salt. Some people are buying it by the box." Salt." Yesterday, this newspaper received calls from readers in several cities in Guangdong, reporting that salt was being snapped up. Some merchants also took the opportunity to raise prices, with a pack of salt selling for more than 10 yuan. The reporter immediately rushed to the supermarket and encountered citizens rushing to buy salt. Even the Australian imported salt, which usually no one cares about, was taken away. Yesterday, the Provincial Salt Affairs Bureau held an emergency meeting and stated that Guangdong Province's salt reserves can last for more than three months and can guarantee the supply of salt. We hope citizens will not panic buy. Experts from the Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention also said that it is unreliable to say that eating salt can protect against radiation, and citizens should not believe the rumors. Report from readers: Supermarkets are selling out of salt, and merchants are taking the opportunity to raise prices. Mr. Wang, who lives in West Village, reported to this newspaper yesterday that he received a call from relatives in his hometown of Maoming in the evening, asking him to help buy some salt in Guangzhou. The relatives They said there was no more salt sold locally. "I was shocked when I heard that. I went to the Trust-Mart in West Village at 7pm, and there was no salt for sale in the supermarket. The salesperson at the supermarket said that many people came to the supermarket to buy salt in the afternoon, and each person bought more than ten packs. It was sold out quickly. Then I hurried to a nearby store, but many stores said that there was no salt for sale. The store owner told him that many people came to buy salt in boxes. "Mr. Wang said. Aunt Liang, who lives in Panyu, also reported to this newspaper last night that her supermarket in Xinghewan has no salt. By 10 p.m., this newspaper was still receiving reports from readers that the price of salt in some places had soared to more than 10 yuan per pack, while the government-stipulated retail price of ordinary salt was 1.3 yuan per pack. Subsequently, readers from Maoming, Yangjiang, Zhanjiang, Foshan, Nanhai, Dongguan, Qingyuan and other places also reported to this newspaper the panic buying of salt. Reporter's investigation: Only high-priced lake salt was left on the shelves. At around 9 o'clock last night, after receiving the report, the reporter rushed to a number of supermarkets and found that salt was indeed being purchased in large quantities. On the salt shelves of Zhujiang Dijing Hongcheng Supermarket, the reporter saw that all the common Cantonese salts were gone, leaving only Australian lake salt worth 5 yuan a pack. Due to its high price, few people bought this kind of Australian lake salt in the past. At 9:50 p.m., the reporter rushed to the China Resources Vanguard salt sales container in Kecun and saw that four of the five shelves were empty, leaving only the bottom layer, which contained a pack of 5 yuan Australian salt. There are probably dozens of packages of lake salt, and all varieties of Cantonese salt have been swept away. Mr. Wang, a citizen, told reporters: "It is said on the Internet that there is a rush to buy salt in many places because of eating iodized salt to prevent radiation. I was worried that I would not be able to buy salt in a few days, so I quickly bought a few packs." The person in charge of many supermarkets told reporters that last night Supermarket buyers have been working overtime to adjust and replenish goods. China Resources Vanguard stated that it is currently actively contacting government departments to allocate supply sources, and has secured nearly 100 tons of salt to ensure normal supply to the market. However, some supermarkets also said that if this situation continues, they will consider restricting the purchase of salt. Disease control expert: Salt with low iodine content cannot protect against radiation. The reporter learned that the salt grabbing incident first came from cities closer to the sea.

There are two main reasons for citizens to grab salt. First, the current table salt in our country is all iodized salt, which contains potassium iodate. Many citizens may think that buying some salt can be used to protect against radiation at critical moments. Another type is that residents of some coastal cities in Guangdong are worried that the sea water will be contaminated by Japanese nuclear radiation. Relevant experts from the Provincial Center for Disease Control were very surprised by the salt grabbing incident after receiving a call last night. He said that the iodine content in table salt is very low, and potassium iodate is different from the potassium iodide in iodine tablets. Even if citizens eat a lot of salt, it will not have much radiation protection effect. Regarding concerns about radioactive contamination of seawater, he believes that the key depends on whether Japan's nuclear crisis worsens further. But judging from the current monitoring situation, there is no need to worry. Because Guangdong is far away from Japan, the possibility of seawater pollution is very small. He said that most of the table salt in our country is mineral salt, and the amount of sea salt will not exceed 20%. Only about 30% of the table salt in Guangdong Province is sea salt, and my country has abundant mineral salt resources, so there will be no shortage of supply. A rush to buy salt occurred in Zhanjiang, Maoming yesterday. Maoming Salt Bureau: Salt can be used for one year. Suspected of the possible spread of radiation from the Japanese earthquake, a rush to buy salt began in some areas of Maoming and Zhanjiang in western Guangdong at noon yesterday. As of press time last night, all shopping malls, supermarkets, canteens, etc. in Dianbai County, Gaozhou City, and urban areas under the jurisdiction of Maoming City had all their salt stocks sold out. A person in charge of the Maoming Salt Bureau said that Maoming has about 7,000 tons of salt in storage, which is enough for people to use for a year, so citizens can rest assured. Panic buying also occurred in Zhanjiang city yesterday, with all the salt on the market sold out. Some people said that they could not buy it even for 10 yuan a pack. Director Xu of the Maoming Salt Bureau said in an interview that Maoming has sufficient salt reserves that can be used by the people of the city for a year. Citizens should rest assured and do not need to rush to buy. The reporter saw in a large warehouse located in the Salt Bureau of Maoming City, bags of salt piled up like a hill. According to the staff, the salt reserve is about 7,000 tons, which is very sufficient. To put it bluntly, there is no need to be afraid of the pollution of salt-making seawater, because the salt that people usually eat is partly sea salt and partly mineral salt, with half each. Related News Europe and the United States are rushing to buy iodine tablets. Hong Kong is rushing to buy Japanese milk powder. Nuclear proliferation panic is spreading in Europe and the United States, and people in many countries are rushing to buy potassium iodide (iodine tablets) that can resist radiation. Some American manufacturers said that the local supply of iodine tablets has begun to be in short supply, and there has been a rush to buy iodine tablets on the West Coast of the United States. Online auctions have pushed the price of a pack to 500 US dollars. Finland's largest pharmacy chain also said people were rushing to buy iodine tablets over the weekend. In Hong Kong, due to public concerns about the shortage of Japanese products and that new products will be contaminated by radiation, there has been a rush to buy some expensive Japanese foods in recent days. A seafood shop quickly sold more than 350,000 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to *** in two hours. For 40 pounds of Japanese abalone, some people also lined up in the morning to buy Japanese milk powder, further tightening the supply. 2. The history and reality of salt grabbing. In recent years, such salt grabbing is not an isolated case. In 1988, the price breakthrough failed. That year became the year with the largest price increase in my country since 1950. The total retail price index for the year was higher than last year. up 18.5. As a result, panic buying started. Some people once snatched enough salt and soy sauce to last for a year. It is said that some people even snapped up 400 kilograms. In 2003, during the SARS period, because the true situation was concealed, people who "didn't know the truth" began to believe the rumors. As a result, there were jokes about "buying stuff and turning it into a grocery store" and "robbing salt and turning it into a small salt merchant." …[Details] The reason for the rush for salt was nothing more than a lack of security and distrust of external information. In 1988, people rushed for salt because they were afraid that wages would shrink rapidly. The fear of rising prices made people join in the rush buying operation regardless of their own safety. The reasons for the salt rush in 2003 and 2011 were more complicated: on the one hand, they were afraid of nuclear radiation or strange things like SARS, "I think this thing will definitely kill people," and on the other hand, they were distrustful of external information - " I don’t understand what you experts are saying and I don’t want to listen to it. Public power is not worthy of trust. You have to rely on yourself for everything.” 3. Please note that eating iodized salt cannot protect against nuclear radiation. Can eating iodized salt prevent nuclear radiation? Gulou Hospital. Nuclear medicine experts said that people do not need to supplement iodine, because excessive iodine can easily cause thyroid disease.

The iodine contained in iodized salt is "trace amount". The trace amount of iodine cannot block the absorption of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland and has no effect on radiation protection. Xu Zhengqiang, director of the Radiation Monitoring Office of the Ningbo Environmental Monitoring Center, thinks it is ridiculous to rush to buy salt. "The most effective way to prevent nuclear radiation is to take an iodine tablet (potassium iodide tablet) every day, because each iodine tablet contains 100 mg of iodine, and according to the Ministry of Health The Ministry of Health stipulates that the iodine content in each kilogram of edible salt is only 20-30 mg.” According to Xinhua News Agency, the World Health Organization stated that potassium iodide tablets are not a “radiation antidote” and are not suitable for everyone to take. It can only be taken under the clear guidance of public health agencies. Will sea salt be contaminated by nuclear radiation? Zhang Chaoyang, deputy general manager of Zhejiang Salt Industry Group, said that there is currently a small amount of sea salt on the market, but whether sea salt has been contaminated by radiation cannot be determined until testing. Moreover, mine salt and sea salt are marked on the packaging bags of edible salt, so they are easy to find. 4. On the other hand, people who didn’t grab the salt don’t need to panic. Many people will also ask, what should I do if I move slowly and fail to grab the salt? There is no need to panic. 1. As this irrational behavior gradually comes to an end, the market price of salt will steadily fall. As long as you are not so anxious that you will run out of salt for your next meal, you can wait and the price of salt will soon return to normal. Where it should be. 2. Will I be unable to buy salt? There is no need to be afraid of this. Our country is a big salt-producing country. In addition to sea salt, there are also well salt and other salt supplies. China National Salt Corporation has also responded to the rush to buy salt and will ensure market supply. Attached: Some characteristics of nuclear radiation Nuclear radiation is everywhere in our lives. In life, we often talk about nuclear discoloration, and we are also quite afraid of the word radiation. In fact, radiation is divided into two categories, ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation. For example, what we call computer radiation belongs to the latter, while nuclear radiation belongs to the former. In the previous topic, we have already mentioned that nuclear radiation refers to some elements (radioactive elements) carrying very high energy protons, neutrons, helium nuclei, electrons, photons, etc. These particles may break away from these elements and Shoot out. Nuclear radiation is actually everywhere in our lives. We are exposed to various types of nuclear radiation all the time. Air, water, and food are all sources of nuclear radiation. It's just that the harm of these radiations to the human body is so small that it can be ignored. In addition, the effects of nuclear radiation on the human body include external exposure and internal exposure. External exposure refers to the direct exposure of radioactive substances to the human body; internal exposure refers to the radioactive substances entering the air, water, plants, and entering the human body through breathing, drinking, eating, etc. …[Details] Large doses of nuclear radiation can cause illness and death; radiation is also a potential cause of increased cancer incidence. Radiation damage to the human body is divided into deterministic effects and stochastic effects. Deterministic effects are effects that occur only when the dose of radiation received exceeds a certain threshold. Its clinical manifestations include vomiting, hair loss, cataracts, decreased sexual desire, decreased white blood cells, various types of radiation sickness, and even death. Stochastic effects are increases in cancer incidence caused by radiation dose, with no dose threshold. In principle, any small dose of radiation will cause an increase in the incidence of cancer. Once cancer is induced, its severity is independent of the amount of radiation received. This is somewhat similar to what we usually talk about as cancer triggers. For example, we often say that certain unhealthy lifestyle habits can cause cancer. The current level of nuclear radiation in Japan has no direct impact on local human health. The above chart reflects the possible reactions of the human body after a short period of large doses of radiation. Let me first briefly talk about the unit of measurement of Sievert (Sv) that we are talking about these days. It represents a physical quantity called "equivalent dose", which reflects the amount of radiation absorbed per kilogram of human tissue per hour. Generally, people who receive more than 8 sieverts (Sv) of radiation will definitely die, so sieverts (Sv) is a very large unit. In our daily expressions, millisieverts (mSv) and microsieverts (μSv) are commonly used. Among them, 1μSv (microsievert) = 0.001mSv (millisievert) = 1Sv (sievert) to the negative 6th power of 10. …[Details] Yesterday, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology released the measurement results of the amount of radiation released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

The results show that the maximum value per hour can be as high as 0.33 millisieverts more than 20 kilometers away from the nuclear power plant, while the maximum value detected in the area 30 kilometers to 60 kilometers away from the nuclear power plant is 0.0253 millisieverts. Although it is higher than normal, it It has no direct impact on human health. This is true for places that are close by, so there is certainly no need to worry about other places. Many radioactive substances will disappear automatically after a certain period of time, and nuclear radiation will not be contagious. In fact, there are many kinds of radioactive substances, and they have different half-lives, that is, the time required for half of the nuclei of radioactive elements to decay. Data show that after a nuclear reactor completely melts down, it will release some less toxic radioactive gases, including nitrogen-16, tritium and krypton. Nitrogen-16 is quickly converted into stable oxygen. Krypton is very light and dissipates quickly after entering the atmosphere. Tritium has very low energy and a half-life of 12 years. When it decays, it exists as stable helium gas and poses little risk to humans. Iodine-131 and cesium-137 are radioactive substances currently detected around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The half-life of iodine-131 is 8.3 days. This means that after about three months, almost all of the radioactive iodine will have decayed and disappeared. The half-life of cesium-137 is approximately 30 years. Depending on the total amount of radioactive materials in the fallout ash, some decontamination and necessary radiation reduction measures may need to be taken (such as agriculture, forestry, etc.). This is just businessmen driving up prices, disrupting market order, causing panic among the public, and taking the opportunity to make huge profits. Conclusion: Not to mention that nuclear radiation is not a problem at all at the moment. Even if it is a problem, eating iodized salt cannot effectively protect against nuclear radiation. What is the use of grabbing it? You know, after the salt grabbing activities in 1988 and 2003, many people did not buy salt for many years, and the salt at home became damp...