From prophylaxis to atomic cocktail: circulation of radioiodine

Abstract

This paper is a history of iodine. To trace the trajectory of this element, goiter is used as a guideline for the articulation of a historical account, as a representation of thyroid disorders and of the spaces of knowledge and practices related to iodine. Iodine’s journey from goiter treatment and prophylaxis in the late interwar period took on a new course after WWII by including the element’s radioactive isotopes. I intend to show how the introduction of radioiodine contributed to stabilize the epistemic role of iodine, in both its non-radioactive and radioactive form, in thyroid gland studies and in the treatment of its disorders.