Antimony - 51Sb: biological information
Antimony has no biological role. In small doses it is said to stimulate the metabolism.
Levels in humans
The abundances of the elements in humans.
- Human abundance by weight: (no data) ppb by weight
- Human abundance by atoms: (no data) atoms relative to C = 1000000
How much antimony is in your body? Find out here.
You can use this form to calculate how much antimony your body contains. Enter your weight in either kilograms or pounds and click the "Calculate" button. You must enter a number, not text! Elements for which there are no data will always give a value of zero for the weight, no matter what you put in the weight box.
Hazards and Risks
Hazards and risks associated with antimony:
Antimony compounds are encountered rarely by most people. All antimony compounds are highly toxic. Antimony compounds cause severe liver damage. Antimony compounds should only be handled by competent chemists. It is a severe irritant. The British Pharmaceutical Codex from 1907 indicates that various forms of antimony were used in various forms as a medicine, for instance to induce vomiting and as a diaphoretic (induces sweating), but points out its highly poisonous nature. It seems that antimony chloride was used (rarely) as a weapon of last resort against "poisoned wounds and cancerous growths".
References
- J.E. Huheey, E.A. Keiter, and R.L. Keiter in Inorganic Chemistry : Principles of Structure and Reactivity, 4th edition, HarperCollins, New York, USA, 1993.
- S. Budavari (Ed.) in The Merck Index, 11th ed., Merck, USA, 1989.
- N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw in Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth, UK, 1997.