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Rosenfeld
Discovery and Early Uses of Iodine
Rosenfeld L
Chem. Educ. 2000, 77, 984.
[abstract only]
“The ancient Chinese recognized goiter and the therapeutic effects of burnt sponge and seaweed in reducing its size or causing its disappearance. The modern use of iodine in the prevention of goiter dates from 1830, when it was proposed that goiter is an iodine deficiency disease. But unfavorable symptoms were frequent, owing to overdose of iodine. Iodine’s presence in organic combination as a normal constituent of the thyroid was established in 1896 and revived its use in treatment and prevention of goiter.
“This history of the discovery and early uses of iodine mixes ancient practices, secret recipes, accidental scientific discovery, professional rivalry, and the use and misuse of medical discovery against a backdrop of the impact of warfare in the development of science. Careful scientific work eventually led to identification, analysis, and synthesis of the primary biochemical substance responsible for iodine metabolism.”