Help me understand this mystery about potassium iodide on ebay

[Duer 157099]

Just out of curiosity I checked on ebay to see how KI is selling, and the prices are all over the map, from $10 to $500. I don't get it. Who would pay $500 for something when another seller has it for sale as a buy-it-now for $10?

Is it all smoke and mirrors?

What is happening? How do you explain this?

[AlabamaLibrul]

1. Different things come up at different times, people get a little nervous

and they'll pay anything.

Same reason people can sell electronics for double retail on there. Far as I'm concerned ebay sucks.

[LiberalAndProud]

2. Would some of them be sugar pills?

Be careful out there.

[Duer 157099]

3. No; in some cases, it is even the same brand.

I am totally stumped.

[Cleita]

4. Guess what. We get them for free from Public Health

Services here. I'm betting some people are selling their free pills at a big mark-up.

[joshcryer]

7. Guess what you can get it for 50 cents at almost any store.

[OhioChick]

5. Price gouging....

Potassium iodide (14-day supply) only costs $10.00 normally.

[joshcryer]

6. Iodized table salt already has potassium iodide in it! OMFG! Don't play in to this retardness!

[Richard D]

8. 1 gm of mortons has 45 "units" of iodide

Recommend dosage for prevention of thyroid cancer in exposure to radioactive iodine for an adult is 130 mgs.
Any idea how "units" translates into mgs. or are they equivalent? Somehow, since it's not recommended for adults over 40 to take KI for danger of allergic reactions, I doubt that they are the same.

On edit: The only thing I could find is that one unit is 2 atoms of KI. If that's correct, you'd have to consume a frack of a lot of salt to get up to 130mgs.

[jtuck004]

9. This CDC link says not to depend on table salt.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/pdf/ki.pdf

The ones they approve of are 130 mg, as best I remember. You would choke on enough salt to do the same job, since this ingredient is only .01 to .06% of table salt - thank you mortonsalt.com.

But DON'T get all excited yet, and DON'T take this without talking with your physician, or perhaps under the direction of public health officials. There are some people for whom these tablets are contraindicated - among them pregnant women.

It protects your thyroid by filling it with a non-radioactive version of iodine, which prevents it from taking in the radioactive version - which happens to be a by-product of nuclear plant releases.

[Johonny]

10. capitalism

[flamingdem]

11. Avoiding contaminated milk seems as good as iodide

from what I understand so far .. it's about what you eat more than breathe.

I called Whole Foods and they said people were in the store downing pills!

They ran out.

[taught_me_patience]

12. Fake bidding by friends of the seller. n/t