Antimony - Toxicology of Metals - page 347

Studies have found antimony concentration in air
particulate matter in remote, rural, and urban areas
in the United States to be 0.00045-1.19, 0.6-7, and
0.5-171 ng/m 3 , respectively (Arimoto et al ., 1987;
Austin et al ., 1988). Peirson et al . (1973) reported levels
of 1.4-55 ng/m 3 in air from seven sites in the United
Kingdom. Emissions from antimony-containing ore-
processing facilities can reach levels greater than
1000 ng antimony/m 3 (ATSDR, 1992).
In soil, antimony usually ranges from 0.1-10 mg/
kg dry weight (Bowen, 1966; Khatamov et al ., 1967).
Soil around industrial sites that process antimony-
containing ores can be much higher (ATSDR, 1992).
A study of soil from eight orchards in the state of
Washington found levels of antimony ranging from
0.4-1.5 mg/kg. The authors attributed these antimony
levels to the use of insecticides containing antimony
as an impurity, because the levels were higher than
nearby areas where insecticide was not used.
Because antimony is naturally present in soil, it
would be expected to be found in runoff. In a study of
runoff samples from 19 cities in the United States, 14%
contained antimony in concentrations ranging from
2.6-23

average of 0.1 mg Sb/kg dry weight. The amount of
inhaled antimony was estimated to be 20% of the total
amount of antimony in one cigarette.

4.2 Working Environment
Air concentrations of antimony on the order of 1-
10 mg/m 3 have been reported from different smelter
operations. Renes (1953) found average working zone
concentrations of antimony ranging from 4.7-10.2 mg/
m 3 in smelting works. In an abrasives plant studied
by Brieger et al . (1954), the average air concentration
was 3.0 mg/m 3 . It should be mentioned in this context
that arsenic frequently occurs as a contaminant in the
production and handling of antimony. Thus, risks for
simultaneous exposure to arsenic, when antimony and
its compounds are used, are always present. Some of
the health effects that were previously thought to be pri-
marily related to antimony have, indeed, subsequently
been questioned by some researchers and considered to
be an effect of simultaneous exposure to arsenic rather
than antimony (Brooks, 1981). Stibine (SbH 3 ) was found
to evolve during charging of lead storage batteries in
which antimony was a compound of the negative grid
(Haring and Compton, 1935). Because of improved
working conditions over the years, there are relatively
few instances of high exposure to antimony over long
periods of time (McCallum, 2005). The OSHA permis-
sible exposure limit (PEL) is 0.5 mg Sb/m 3 (8-hour time-
weighted average) (U.S. Department of Labor, 2006).

g/kg (Cole et al ., 1984). Levels in other areas
include groundwater in Switzerland, 0.3-1.0

µ

g/kg;
Canadian surface water, range 0.001-9.1 mg/L (Health
Canada 1997); open ocean water, 1 × 10 −9 moles/L;
fi ltered and unfi ltered seawater from the North Adri-
atic Sea, 0.31-0.45

µ

g/kg, respectively (Johnson et al .
1992); and surface water samples from Gniezo city,
Poland, 1.61 ng/ml (Niedzielski, 2006). Sediments
can be signifi cant sinks for antimony (ATSDR, 1992).
Levels up to 900

µ

g/g of antimony have been found
in sediment in areas where antimony-containing ore
was mined or processed (ATSDR, 1992). By using an
analytical method developed for the determining
trace element concentrations in polar snow and ice,
which gave a detection limit of 30 pg Sb/L, Shotyk et
al . (2005a) measured the antimony level of water from
natural fl ows and wells in Springwater Township,
Ontario, Canada. The average concentration in 34 sam-
ples was 2.2 ± 1.2 ng/L, and the maximum concentra-
tion 5.0 ng/L.
The World Health Organization recommends that
drinking water contain no more than 0.02 mg anti-
mony/liter (World Health Organization, 1993). This
equates to 10% of a total recommended maximum
daily intake (TDI) of 6

µ

5 METABOLISM

Antimony is considered a nonessential metal.

5.1 Absorption
No correlation was found between soil levels of
antimony and antimony levels in urine, blood, or hair
of area residents (Gebel et al ., 1998a,b). On the other
hand, in another study, signifi cant correlation was
found between antimony concentrations in air and in
blood and urine (Kentner et al ., 1995).

5.1.1 Inhalation

Quantitative data on the absorption of inhaled anti-
mony compounds are not available. It can, however,
be deduced from the experiments on rats by Djuric
et al . (1962) that inhaled trivalent antimony is, to a
great extent, absorbed from the lungs, distributed to
various organs, and excreted in urine and feces. It has
been shown that absorption of antimony compounds

µ g/kg of body weight.

4.1.3 Tobacco

Antimony in cigarettes has been studied by means
of neutron activation (Nadkarni and Ehman, 1970;
Wyttenbach et al ., 1976). The tobacco contained an