1.4 HOW CAN ANTIMONY AFFECT MY HEAL

1.4 HOW CAN ANTIMONY AFFECT MY HEALTH?
Exposure to 9 milligrams per cubic meter of air (mg/m3
) of antimony for
a long time can irritate your eyes, skin, and lungs. Breathing 2 mg/m3
of
antimony for a long time can cause problems with the lungs (pneumoconiosis)
heart problems (altered electrocardiograms), stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting
and stomach ulcers. People who drank over 19 ppm of antimony once, vomited. We
do not know what other health effects would occur to people who swallow
antimony. We do not know if antimony can cause cancer or birth defects, or
affect reproduction in humans. Antimony can have beneficial effects when used
for medical reasons, It has been used as a medicine to treat people infected
with parasites. Persons who have had too much of this medicine or are
sensitive to it when it was injected into their blood or muscle have
experienced adverse health effects. These health effects include diarrhea,
joint and/or muscle pain, vomiting, problems with the blood (anemia) and heart
problems (altered electrocardiograms).
Rats and guinea pigs that breathed very high levels of antimony for a
short time died. Rats breathing high levels of antimony for several days had
lung, heart, liver, and kidney damage. Breathing very low levels of antimony
for a long time has resulted in eye irritation, hair loss, and lung damage in
rats. Dogs and rats that breathed low levels of antimony for a long period had
heart problems (changes in EKGs). Problems with fertility have been observed
in rats that breathed very high levels of antimony for a couple of months.
Lung cancer has been observed in some studies of rats breathing high
concentrations of antimony. Antimony has not been classified for cancer
effects by the Department of Health and Human Services, the International
Agency for Research on Cancer or the Environmental Protection Agency.
Dogs that drank very high levels of antimony for several weeks lost
weight and had diarrhea. Rats that drank very low levels of antimony for most
of their lives died sooner than rats not drinking antimony. Rats eating high
levels of antimony for a long time had liver damage and fewer red blood cells.
Rabbits that had very small amounts of antimony placed on their skin for
less than 1 day had skin irritation. Small amounts of antimony placed in
rabbit eyes resulted in eye irritation. Large amounts of antimony placed on
rabbit's skin resulted in death.