Changes in the iodine content of vegetables following the Chernobyl accident.

In the early phenophases and at maturity the vegetables grown in the goitrogenic area have a lower iodine concentration than in non-goitrogenic areas. Within the same area, the amount of iodine is higher in young than in old vegetables and, in some species, it is higher in the young vegetables of the goitrogenic area than in the nature vegetables of the non-goitrogenic ones. Following the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in April 1986, the iodine metabolism in plants was disorganized.