Most of the data for dissolved antimony in the open ocean are from the Atlantic the profiles in Figure 4C and D are typical for this element. Antimony is not as toxic as arsenic, and since it is used as a plasticizer and is enriched in fossil fuels, most of the interest in antimony has concerned its use as a pollution tracer (e.g. Antimony also has methylated forms analogous to those of arsenic (i.e., MMSb, DMSb), although only MMSb has been found in the open ocean. Sb(V) is not as strong a Lewis acid as As(V) and in oxic sea water the stable form would be antimonate (Sb(OH) 6 −), while Sb(III), like As(III), would be Sb(OH) 3 in anoxic waters.

Cutter, in Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, 2001 AntimonyĪntimony is a group VB metalloid like arsenic but it has more metallic character and the chemistry of antimony is quite different than that of phosphorus or arsenic. In this chapter, we investigate whether and how the sustainable extraction of antimony can be achieved, while simultaneously increasing and maintaining antimony's service level globally at a level that is equal to its service level in developed countries in 2020.

This does not mean that antimony will have disappeared from the Earth's crust within a century, but that the relatively easily extractable antimony-containing ores will be exhausted.Īntimony is also part of the EU's list of critical raw materials, because the EU considers antimony to be essential for the European economy, and because more than 70% is produced in a single country (China) and more than 90% in just three countries (China, Russia, and Tajikistan). Comparing the ultimately available resources of antimony with its current pace of extraction, antimony is one of the scarcest mineral resources, and the ultimately available global resources may be exhausted within a century (see Table 3.2). Theo Henckens, in Governance of the World's Mineral Resources, 2021 7.2.1 IntroductionĪntimony is an element that is used in many applications, for example as a component in flame-retardants, as a catalyst to produce polyester, in lead-acid batteries, and in lead alloys. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists classifies antimony as a suspected human carcinogen. The toxicity of Sb is a function of the water solubility and the oxidation state of the Sb species under consideration. Antimony is absorbed slowly through the oral route, and many antimony compounds are gastrointestinal irritants. Occupational exposures usually occur through inhalation of dusts containing antimony compounds. Most information regarding antimony toxicity has been obtained from industrial exposures. The emission of antimony into the human environment is overwhelmingly the result of human activity approximately half of the antimony used in the United States is recovered from lead-based battery scrap. White metal usually contains tin, lead, or antimony as the chief component. Antimony is used in white metal, a group of alloys having relatively low melting points. In nature, it is found associated with sulfur as stibnite.

Gad, in Encyclopedia of Toxicology (Third Edition), 2014 AbstractĪntimony (Sb CASRN ) is a semimetal element with chemical properties similar to lead, arsenic, and bismuth.

Antimony trifluoride