Wyoming Health officials want to allay fears of any radiation threat for the state.

Dr Tracy Murphy, Epidemiologist and Deputy State Health officer for Wyoming, says while the events in Japan are tragic, he says there is no related radiation exposure risk in Wyoming and no reasonable expectation that a related public health risk will develop here.

"It's interesting that a lot of the United States has had some radioactive deposits from past events; nuclear testing in the 40's or nuclear weapons construction. There is a level of radiation exposure every day in the United States and in the world due to various things."

Dr. Murphy says it doesn't have to be that scary. He says at the Wyoming Department of Health they are following information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and at this point any contamination is extremely unlikely.  As for Wyoming  residents who are wondering if they should be taking potassium iodide as a precaution due to the Japanese emergency; The answer is definitely no.

"We just want to reassure people that that's not necessary at this time. Now, that is something that some people may want to have in their emergency preparedness kit,  just for generally purposes and if that's the case that's certainly fine."

But, Dr. Murphy adds, that it should only be taken if exposure to very high doses of radiation is expected. Again, there is no expectation this will happen in Wyoming. He also says  if  you want to keep any on hand you should talk to a doctor first, because for some it would be unsafe to take it.

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