As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears its three-week mark, repercussions are being felt around the world as the prices of oil and grain climb. But a less common consumer product has also become a hot commodity as the war raises fears of global nuclear conflict: potassium iodide.
Twenty tablets of ThyroSafe, whose active ingredient is potassium iodide, can fetch as much as $175 (£134) on eBay. ThyroSafe’s official distributor has stopped taking new orders from its website, and existing ones will see a delay in shipping, according to a statement last week. Of the four companies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell the compound, also known as KI, at least one other has sold out.
