Left in direct contact with skin antimony can also cause irritation. It can also cause irritation to the eyes. Women of ancient Egypt used stibic stone, antimony sulfide, (Sb 2 S 3 ), to darken their eyes. Breathing high levels of antimony for a long time can irritate the eyes and lungs, and can cause problems with the lungs, heart, and stomach, including vomiting, diarrheoa and stomach ulcers.Įxposure to high levels antimony from occurence in the workplace or contact with contaminated soils can cause difficulties with the heart, liver, lungs and stomach. Antimony compounds have been used by humans for centuries. How does antimony affect human health?Įxposure to antimony occurs in the workplace or from skin contact with soil at hazardous waste sites. Released to the atmosphere from natural sources and as a by-product of smelting lead and other metals, it generally drops to contaminate soils and waterways. HowĪlthough not abundant, antimony can be found in over 100 species of minerals. Small amounts are used in production of safety matches. The other major use is as antimony trioxide which is used for the production of flame retardant chemicals.Īntimony is used in the semi-conducter industry for certain silicone wafer, diode and infra-red detector productions. It is also used in automotive clutch and brake parts. MainĪntimony is used to increase the hardness of alloys, with lead alloys for batteries, with lead/copper/tin alloys for machine bearings. Number of Protons/Electrons in Antimony: 51Īntimony is a silvery-white brittle solid found in the earth's crust, estimates of the amount of antimony in the crust are between 0.2 and 0.5 ppm.Īlthough antimony resembles a metal it has poor electircal and conductive properties and does not react chemically like a metal and is classified as semi-metallic.Īntimony ores are mined and then mixed with other metals to form antimony alloys or combined with oxygen to form antimony oxide. anti plus monos - "a metal not found alone") antimony was first recognized in compounds and was recorded as a metal at the beginning of the 17th century and possibly prior to this date.
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