China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Chemical Nanosensors
Published in Vinod Kumar Khanna, Nanosensors, 2021
Why is it necessary to establish sensitive and accurate analytical methods for quantitative determination of antimony? It is necessary because antimony is a toxic element and the upper allowable limit of antimony in domestic water is 0.005 mg L−1. Exposure to high levels of antimony has a variety of adverse health effects. Antimony toxicity takes place either through occupational exposure of personnel working in metal mining, smelting or refining industries, besides those engaged in antimony or antimony trioxide production; or during medical therapies administered to leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis patients (Sundar.and Chakravarty 2010). Toxic effects to workers include respirational, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, dermal, and reproductive, apart from genotoxicity, and carcinogenecity. Main side effects observed during antimony therapy are cardiotoxicity and pancreatitis necessitating critical monitoring of patient’s health. Further, ingesting certain compounds of antimony has injurious effects upon body tissues and functions, e.g., acidic fruit juices containing antimony oxide, dissolved from the glaze of cheap enamelware containers, have caused antimony poisoning.
Metals in the workplace
Published in Sue Reed, Dino Pisaniello, Geza Benke, Kerrie Burton, Principles of Occupational Health & Hygiene, 2020
Metallic antimony finds use in alloys with lead (e.g. battery grids), in cable sheaths, pewter, ammunitions and some solders. Salts of antimony are used in paints, rubber, glass and ceramics. One regular application of antimony trioxide is as a fire retardant in weather-proofing/insulation membranes for housing construction. The toxic effects of antimony resemble those of arsenic, and include irritation of mucous membranes, gastrointestinal symptoms, sores in the mouth and skin lesions. The hydride of antimony, stibine, is an extremely toxic haemolytic agent. Antimony trisulfide is also very toxic and is reported to cause heart failure. This effect on cardiac muscle may be shared by other antimony compounds as well.
Metals in the workplace
Published in Sue Reed, Dino Pisaniello, Geza Benke, Principles of Occupational Health & Hygiene, 2020
Metallic antimony finds use in alloys with lead (e.g. battery grids), in cable sheaths, pewter, ammunitions and some solders. Salts of antimony are used in paints, rubber, glass and ceramics. One regular application of antimony trioxide is as a fire retardant in weather-proofing/insulation membranes for housing construction. The toxic effects of antimony resemble those of arsenic, and include irritation of mucous membranes, gastrointestinal symptoms, sores in the mouth and skin lesions. The hydride of antimony, stibine, is an extremely toxic haemolytic agent. Antimony trisulfide is also very toxic and is reported to cause heart failure. This effect on cardiac muscle may be shared by other antimony compounds as well.
Antimony toxicity upon microorganisms from aerobic and anaerobic environments
Published in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 2023
Ivan Moreno-Andrade, Reyes Sierra-Alvarez, Marisol Pérez-Rangel, Cinthya Barrera, Jim A. Field, Aurora Pat-Espadas
This metalloid is present mainly in contaminated wastewater in two oxidation states: antimonite (Sb (III)) and antimonate (Sb (V)). Antimony is highly toxic and a suspected human carcinogen.[5] As established by the US-EPA and the European Union (EU), the permissible limits of Sb in drinking water are very low, 6 and 5 μg/L, respectively.[6,7] Sb (III) is toxic to several aquatic organisms; for example, using Sb (III) (antimony potassium tartrate), median 50% lethal concentrations (LC50) of 4.9 mg/L and 261 mg/L have been reported for the planktonic crustacea, Simocephalus mixtus and larvae of Ozyzias latipes, respectively, after 24-h exposure.[8]
Rejection of antimony and bismuth in sulphide flotation – a literature review
Published in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy, 2021
Leanne Kathleen Smith, Warren John Bruckard, Graham Jeffrey Sparrow
Antimony is found only occasionally as the native metal, but it does occur in nature with sulphur and the metals copper, lead and silver and more than 100 minerals of antimony have been identified. The predominant antimony ore minerals are the sulphide minerals stibnite (Sb2S3), also known as antimonite, jamesonite (Pb4FeSb6S14), and antimony oxides such as valentinite and senarmontite (polymorphs of Sb2O3). Another valuable antimony sulphide is tetrahedrite (Cu12Sb4S13), but as silver can substitute into the lattice of this mineral, it is concentrated for its associated silver content rather than its antimony content. Other antimony-bearing minerals which can be problematic as contaminants in complex ores include the lead-copper-antimony minerals, bournonite (CuPbSbS3) and meneghinite (Pb4Sb2S7), the lead-antimony mineral, boulangerite (Pb5Sb4S11) and the iron-antimony minerals, gudmundite (FeSbS) and berthierite (FeSb2S4).
Stabilization and encapsulation of arsenic-/antimony-bearing mine waste: Overview and outlook of existing techniques
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2021
Antimony occurs in more than 100 minerals, mainly as sulfides, oxides, and complex sulfides (mostly with copper, lead, and argent), such as stibnite (Sb2S3), valentinite (β-Sb2O3), tetrahedrite ((Cu,Fe)12Sb4S13), bournonite (PbCuSbS3), and pyrargyrite (Ag3SbS3). Of these, stibnite is the most important Sb mineral and primary commercial source of Sb (Alloway, 1995; Kabata-Pendias & Mukherjee, 2007). Stibnite is typically associated with sphalerite (ZnS), pyrite, or galena (PbS), and in mercury deposits, albeit less frequently (Alloway, 1995). The exploitation of stibnite and other associated elements has generated considerable amounts of mine waste. Stibnite is not thermodynamically stable under atmospheric conditions, excluding highly reducing conditions (Vink, 1996). Mine waste containing stibnite easily leaches Sb (Wilson et al., 2004). Thus, it has been reported that the dissolution of this mineral released up to 55 mg Sb L−1 (Ashley et al., 2003). The dissolution of stibnite occurs quickly in mine waste (within days or weeks). It can occur through two primary mechanisms (Ashley et al., 2003) (Figure 1B), which are described below.