Iodine

Iodine is essential to the human body. There is concern that iodine deficiency may cause hypertrophy of the thyroid gland and underdevelopment in children. The Japanese generally do not have to worry about iodine deficiency disorder because they regularly consume seaweed. In contrast, people living in the inland regions of Asia, the United States, and Europe add iodine compounds to table salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorder.

Japan’s world-class natural resources

Iodine is produced on Earth only in a few countries such as Japan and Chile. Japan produces about 30% of the world’s iodine.
Having very limited natural resources, Japan greatly values its precious iodine resources. Its uses range from pharmaceuticals to electronics and without iodine our lives would not be possible.

Applications

Iodine is used in mouthwash and contrast media, and to prevent exposure to radioactive materials. Besides contributing to people’s health, iodine is used in advanced technologies such as LCD polarizing film for smartphones and personal computers and catalysts for chemical products.
The application of our products in X-ray detectors used to inspect luggage at airports has earned us a solid reputation.

Manufacturing process

Groundwater that contains dissolved natural gas in aquifers is called brine.
Although the element of brine is similar to that of seawater, brine is a suitable source in the production of iodine because it contains a large amount of iodine, roughly 0.1 g/L, as opposed to seawater, which contains only 0.0001 g/L or less.
The brine that is pumped to the surface is separated from the dissolved natural gas in a separator and then sent to a collecting pool before the iodine is collected using the blowing-out process.
Then, impurities are removed in the iodine crystallization purification process to produce highly pure iodine products.
As our main iodine products, we produce “ISEFLO™” prilled iodine, which we originally developed, and potassium iodide, sodium iodide and other iodine compounds.