Gastrointestinal Effects. A variety of gastrointestinal disorders have
occurred in factory workers engaged in activities including repeated prolonged
exposure to airborne antimony trichloride (Taylor 1966), antimony trisulfide
(Brieger et al. 1954) or antimony oxide (Renes 1953). These disorders include
abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and ulcers. A causal relationship to
antimony exposure has not been definitely established because workers were
exposed to a variety of other agents in addition to antimony that might cause
or contribute to gastrointestinal effects (e.g., hydrogen chloride, sodium
hydroxide). Furthermore, in all likelihood, both inhalation and oral exposure
to antimony occur at the workplace. Assuming that gastrointestinal effects are
related to antimony-exposure, site monitoring data indicate that effective
exposure levels may range from approximately 2 to 70 mg antimony/m3
.
Symptoms of gastrointestinal disturbances were not reported in animals,
and no histopathological alterations were observed in rats exposed to antimony
trioxide (4.2 mg antimony/m3
) for 1 year (Watt 1980).