Potassium Iodate >

Chemical Formula: KIO3

 

Grades: Norkem supplies potassium iodate in the grades of FCC and ACS.

 

Packaging: Our dry product material form of potassium iodate is available in 25 kilo nett

drums.

 

Availability: Potassium iodate is normally a stock item, which ensures prompt delivery when

purchasing from Norkem.

 

Material: Potassium iodate is an ionic chemical compound, which takes the form of a white

solid. It can appear as white or colourless crystals and as white crystalline powder.

Odourless and with a melting point of 560 degrees Celsius, it is has a solubility of 4.74 g/100

cc water. Potassium iodate can be prepared by taking a potassium containing base, such as

potassium hydroxide, and reacting it with iodic acid.

 

Food additives

Potassium iodate has a significant function as a food additive. Iodine deficiency refers to a

lack of iodine within the body, which is essential to ensure proper cognitive and physical

development. A lack of iodine can severely impact intellectual development and as such is a

significant public health issue, particularly given its preventable nature. This issue can affect

regions in which populations do not generally have an iodine-rich diet, as well as areas

sustained by food grown in mountainous soil, which is typically iodine-poor. A usual method

to prevent this iodine deficiency is to add potassium iodate to salt. Though potassium iodide

can be used too, potassium iodate is better to use as it does not oxidise to iodine and

evaporate, which the former does. In both instances, the resulting types of salt are named

iodised salt.

 

Thanks to its positive effects on public health, potassium iodate is additionally used as a

dietary supplement or maturing ingredient in flour, water, milk and baby food.

 

Medical Uses of Potassium Iodate


Potassium iodate also has a significant and vital function in the medical industry. It can be

used to stop the thyroid from taking on non-radioactive iodine by saturating the body with

stable iodine prior to exposure to radioactive iodine, thus preventing radioactive iodine from

being taken into the body. In this usage to prevent the absorption of radioactive iodine,

potassium iodate has been approved by the World Health Organisation, as a verified method

of protection against radiation. It has additionally been used as a topical antiseptic for

mucous membrane infections, increasing its medical potential as a staple of the healthcare

industry.

 

It can also be used as an oxidising agent in volumetric chemical analysis, a widely used

quantitative analytical method, as demonstrated in the testing for zinc and arsenic.