Long term iodine issues?

[Not Now Jon]

Having read the thread on water purification and reading some experiences online, I still have a few questions about treating water on the trail...
I have a water filter - not sure of the brand/model. However, I've read about some people ditching the filter and using just iodine tabs instead. I keep hearing it's simply a matter of preference, or whatever will work for me... Please help me with a few points I need some clarification on.
Can you use just iodine tabs every time - as in is it safe to do so? Will it make you sick if you do it too often? Seems like a gallon or more of iodine treated water every day would add up quickly. For how long is it safe to continually drink that stuff? days? weeks? indefinitely? I'd love to save a little weight and just carry some tablets, but what do I risk by doing so? Or is it really just a simple choice of what I want to carry?

[YoungMoose]

not so sure about tab. but ive used iodine drops for 2 weeks and i never got sick or affected by it. sorry i cant offer more information

[TheYoungOne]

I tried water treated with an iodine tablet once. It taste pretty nasty.

[sheepdog]

I've used iodine most of my life annnnnnnnnn

wise guy eh???

zoom zoom

what was i sayin

oh yeah almuminum cans don't kill

nyuk nyuk nyuk

free the penguin

no adverse effects...........

[The Cleaner]

Here's my 2cents worth,from meeting a lot of other hikers.Some treat all water some don't treat any.When your water source is a pipe right where the spring starts I probably wouldn't treat it,others do the same.Some would treat this,filter or chemical,.Then sometimes there is no pipe but water is still comming right out of the ground,very close to it's source.Same as before some treat,some don't.Then you get to a water supply which has run along the ground a ways,here's where the problems can arise.I like to use a filter just because it's easier to fill up and the ground water has more stuff in it mostly dirt.Now when using creek water I would always treat it,you never know what's upstream.Once on the trail you will see all this and more.I would not use any chemical treatment I like the filter just because it tastes better.

[SGT Rock]

Used it for 2 months in a row, no issues.

[malowitz]

For the majority of my 2010 thru, I used Polar Pure. It is an iodine-based treatment. It consists of a brown bottle w/solid iodine particles. You pour out what you need by the capful (the dosage is temperature dependent) and replenish the bottle with water. The advantage is that it lasts practically forever w/out having to buy more tablets, drops, bottles, etc. I had no negative health effects.

I didn't treat water from springs/pipes as noted by The Cleaner. Streams, yes.

I think the long-term health concern with iodine is that it can kill the helpful bacteria in your digestive tract. I didn't hear of this happening to anyone on trail.

[Spokes]

Iodine is old school. Use AquaMira instead.

[sheepdog]

Iodine is old school. Use AquaMira instead.

they both taste nasty

I'll just stick with a steri-pen or a filter or nothing.

[Spokes]

they both taste nasty

I'll just stick with a steri-pen or a filter or nothing.

Yep, remember to pack the extra batteries.

I don't know why but every time I imagine getting a Steripen red light error I think I'd look like that kid (Waldo) wearing the poindexter glasses & sweating profusely in the old Van Halen "Hot for Teacher" video.

Wonder why that is?

[WhoDey]

http://www.aquatechnology.net/emerge...ification.html

[Jack Tarlin]

From everything I've read, AquaMira and Polar Pure are virtually identical in terms of efficiancy.

Some people object to the taste, most folks stop caring after a week or two.

Aqua Mira needs to be replaced four, five, six times at least during your hike; you'll spend close to a hundred dollars on it.

Polar Pure costs less than 15 bucks and is good for your whole trip.

If tyou're going to spend $100.00 or more, you may as well get a real filter.

And as to "long term" affects of iodine use, we dropped guys off on coral attolls in the South Pacific for extended periods in WWII, i.e we dropped them off with dozens of 55 gallon tanks fulll of iodined water, and we left them their for months.

Lots of these guys are in their nineties now.

Iodine is a perfectly safe way to treat your water, especially if go out of your way to drink "town" or other tap water whenever possible while hiking.

A few quarts of treated water a day is harmless.

People need to worry about more important things.

[max patch]

i used iodine daily on my thru with no ill effects. However, having said that, I would not do it again nor would I recommend that anyone else do so. There are other alternatives available; there is no need to risk your health.

[Fredsnow]

I use aqua Mira. I can't taste it

[peakbagger]

I have posted before reagrding iodine but wil repeat my comments,

Iodine gives many folks the "runs" or loose stool after using it for a few days. I attribute it to killing off the good bacteria in the digestive tract but I am not a doctor. Some folks dont seem to have any issues, so it may be up to each individuals digestive tract.

There is a portion of the population that are allergic to it and get sick after a few weeks using it. Again it seems to impact only a small portion of people but it was prevalent enough in Gorham NH (4 weeks plus or minus from Katahdin and the first town with a medical center right near by) that some doctors would ask if hikers were using iodine. The symptons usually were that a hiker was just bonking everyday and sleeping a lot and getting headaches, sort of like a long case of the flu. I attribute it to overdosing the thyroid but it only happened to some folks.

If you do go with iodine realize its not very effective for giardia and totally ineffective for crypto.

[Not Now Jon]

Thank you everyone.

[SGT Rock]

I tried aqua mira, didn't like the taste, iodine reminds me of unsweetened ice tea.

That said, I hardly ever treat the water anyway. It is that stuff I use if the water is suspect. From all the reading I've done, the chances of hitting Crypto or Giardia in the back country is pretty darn low, and most diarrhea is caused by viruses and poor hygiene. Filters don't stop either of the last two LOL.

[Wise Old Owl]

I have posted before reagrding iodine but wil repeat my comments,

Iodine gives many folks the "runs" or loose stool after using it for a few days. I attribute it to killing off the good bacteria in the digestive tract but I am not a doctor. Some folks dont seem to have any issues, so it may be up to each individuals digestive tract.

There is a portion of the population that are allergic to it and get sick after a few weeks using it. Again it seems to impact only a small portion of people but it was prevalent enough in Gorham NH (4 weeks plus or minus from Katahdin and the first town with a medical center right near by) that some doctors would ask if hikers were using iodine. The symptons usually were that a hiker was just bonking everyday and sleeping a lot and getting headaches, sort of like a long case of the flu. I attribute it to overdosing the thyroid but it only happened to some folks.

If you do go with iodine realize its not very effective for giardia and totally ineffective for crypto.

This is correct, I did not know the bug juice on the big scout trip was full of iodine, I was sick as you discribed in less than three days.
I snagged one of the big filter pumps and got better quick.

Several years later I lost 1/2 a thyroid so I guess I have to be more careful.