Antimony is a chemical element; it has symbolSb (from Latin stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineralstibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient times and were powdered for use as medicine and cosmetics, often known by the Arabic name kohl.[8] The earliest known description of this metalloid in the West was written in 1540 by Vannoccio Biringuccio.
China is the largest producer of antimony and its compounds, with most production coming from the Xikuangshan Mine in Hunan. The industrial methods for refining antimony from stibnite are roasting followed by reduction with carbon, or direct reduction of stibnite with iron.
Antimony is a silvery, lustrous gray metalloid with a Mohs scale hardness of 3, which is too soft to mark hard objects. Coins of antimony were issued in China's Guizhou in 1931; durability was poor, and minting was soon discontinued because of its softness and toxicity.[10] Antimony is resistant to attack by acids.
The only stable allotrope of antimony under standard conditions[11] is metallic, brittle, silver-white, and shiny. It crystallises in a trigonal cell, isomorphic with bismuth and the gray allotrope of arsenic, and is formed when molten antimony is cooled slowly. Amorphous black antimony is formed upon rapid cooling of antimony vapor, and is only stable as a thin film (thickness in nanometres); thicker samples spontaneously transform into the metallic form.[12] It oxidizes in air and may ignite spontaneously. At 100 °C, it gradually transforms into the stable form. The supposed yellow allotrope of antimony, generated only by oxidation of stibine (SbH3) at −90 °C, is also impure and not a true allotrope;[13][14] above this temperature and in ambient light, it transforms into the more stable black allotrope.[15][16][17] A rare explosive form of antimony can be formed from the electrolysis of antimony trichloride, but it always contains appreciable chlorine and is not really an antimony allotrope.[13] When scratched with a sharp implement, an exothermic reaction occurs and white fumes are given off as metallic antimony forms; when rubbed with a pestle in a mortar, a strong detonation occurs.
Elemental antimony adopts a layered structure (space group R3m No. 166) whose layers consist of fused, ruffled, six-membered rings. The nearest and next-nearest neighbors form an irregular octahedral complex, with the three atoms in each double layer slightly closer than the three atoms in the next. This relatively close packing leads to a high density of 6.697 g/cm3, but the weak bonding between the layers leads to the low hardness and brittleness of antimony.[9]
Antimony has two stable isotopes: 121Sb with a natural abundance of 57.36% and 123Sb with a natural abundance of 42.64%. It also has 35 radioisotopes, of which the longest-lived is 125Sb with a half-life of 2.75 years. In addition, 29 metastable states have been characterized. The most stable of these is 120m1Sb with a half-life of 5.76 days. Isotopes that are lighter than the stable 123Sb tend to decay by β+ decay, and those that are heavier tend to decay by β− decay, with some exceptions.[18] Antimony is the lightest element to have an isotope with an alpha decay branch, excluding 8Be and other light nuclides with beta-delayed alpha emission.[18]
The abundance of antimony in the Earth's crust is estimated at 0.2 parts per million,[19] comparable to thallium at 0.5 ppm and silver at 0.07 ppm. It is the 63rd most abundant element in the crust. Even though this element is not abundant, it is found in more than 100 mineral species.[20] Antimony is sometimes found natively (e.g. on Antimony Peak), but more frequently it is found in the sulfide stibnite (Sb2S3) which is the predominant ore mineral.[19]
Antimony compounds are often classified according to their oxidation state: Sb(III) and Sb(V). The +5 oxidation state is more common.[21]
Oxides and hydroxides
Antimony trioxide is formed when antimony is burnt in air.[22] In the gas phase, the molecule of the compound is Sb 4O 6, but it polymerizes upon condensing.[9]Antimony pentoxide (Sb 4O 10) can be formed only by oxidation with concentrated nitric acid.[23] Antimony also forms a mixed-valence oxide, antimony tetroxide (Sb 2O 4), which features both Sb(III) and Sb(V).[23] Unlike oxides of phosphorus and arsenic, these oxides are amphoteric, do not form well-defined oxoacids, and react with acids to form antimony salts.
Antimonous acid Sb(OH) 3 is unknown, but the conjugate base sodium antimonite ([Na 3SbO 3] 4) forms upon fusing sodium oxide and Sb 4O 6.[24] Transition metal antimonites are also known.[25]: 122 Antimonic acid exists only as the hydrate HSb(OH) 6, forming salts as the antimonate anion Sb(OH)− 6. When a solution containing this anion is dehydrated, the precipitate contains mixed oxides.[25]: 143
Oxyhalides are more common for antimony than for arsenic and phosphorus. Antimony trioxide dissolves in concentrated acid to form oxoantimonyl compounds such as SbOCl and (SbO) 2SO 4.[32]
Antimonides, hydrides, and organoantimony compounds
Compounds in this class generally are described as derivatives of Sb3−. Antimony forms antimonides with metals, such as indium antimonide (InSb) and silver antimonide (Ag 3Sb).[33] The alkali metal and zinc antimonides, such as Na3Sb and Zn3Sb2, are more reactive. Treating these antimonides with acid produces the highly unstable gas stibine, SbH 3:[34]
Sb3− + 3 H+ → SbH 3
Stibine can also be produced by treating Sb3+ salts with hydride reagents such as sodium borohydride. Stibine decomposes spontaneously at room temperature. Because stibine has a positive heat of formation, it is thermodynamically unstable and thus antimony does not react with hydrogen directly.[35]
Organoantimony compounds are typically prepared by alkylation of antimony halides with Grignard reagents.[36] A large variety of compounds are known with both Sb(III) and Sb(V) centers, including mixed chloro-organic derivatives, anions, and cations. Examples include triphenylstibine (Sb(C6H5)3) and pentaphenylantimony (Sb(C6H5)5).[37]
An artifact, said to be part of a vase, made of antimony dating to about 3000 BC was found at Telloh, Chaldea (part of present-day Iraq), and a copper object plated with antimony dating between 2500 BC and 2200 BC has been found in Egypt.[15] Austen, at a lecture by Herbert Gladstone in 1892, commented that "we only know of antimony at the present day as a highly brittle and crystalline metal, which could hardly be fashioned into a useful vase, and therefore this remarkable 'find' (artifact mentioned above) must represent the lost art of rendering antimony malleable."[39]
The British archaeologist Roger Moorey was unconvinced the artifact was indeed a vase, mentioning that Selimkhanov, after his analysis of the Tello object (published in 1975), "attempted to relate the metal to Transcaucasian natural antimony" (i.e. native metal) and that "the antimony objects from Transcaucasia are all small personal ornaments."[39] This weakens the evidence for a lost art "of rendering antimony malleable".[39]
The Roman scholar Pliny the Elder described several ways of preparing antimony sulfide for medical purposes in his treatise Natural History, around 77 AD.[40] Pliny the Elder also made a distinction between "male" and "female" forms of antimony; the male form is probably the sulfide, while the female form, which is superior, heavier, and less friable, has been suspected to be native metallic antimony.[41]
The Greek naturalist Pedanius Dioscorides mentioned that antimony sulfide could be roasted by heating by a current of air. It is thought that this produced metallic antimony.[40]
Antimony was frequently described in alchemical manuscripts, including the Summa Perfectionis of Pseudo-Geber, written around the 14th century.[42] A description of a procedure for isolating antimony is later given in the 1540 book De la pirotechnia by Vannoccio Biringuccio,[43] predating the more famous 1556 book by Agricola, De re metallica. In this context Agricola has been often incorrectly credited with the discovery of metallic antimony. The book Currus Triumphalis Antimonii (The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony), describing the preparation of metallic antimony, was published in Germany in 1604. It was purported to be written by a Benedictine monk, writing under the name Basilius Valentinus in the 15th century; if it were authentic, which it is not, it would predate Biringuccio.[b][16][46]
The metal antimony was known to German chemist Andreas Libavius in 1615 who obtained it by adding iron to a molten mixture of antimony sulfide, salt and potassium tartrate. This procedure produced antimony with a crystalline or starred surface.[40]
With the advent of challenges to phlogiston theory, it was recognized that antimony is an element forming sulfides, oxides, and other compounds, as do other metals.[40]
The medieval Latin form, from which the modern languages and late Byzantine Greek take their names for antimony, is antimonium.[49] The origin of that is uncertain, and all suggestions have some difficulty either of form or interpretation. The popular etymology, from ἀντίμοναχός anti-monachos or French antimoine, would mean "monk-killer", which is explained by the fact that many early alchemists were monks, and some antimony compounds were poisonous.[50]
Another popular etymology is the hypothetical Greek word ἀντίμόνος antimonos, "against aloneness", explained as "not found as metal", or "not found unalloyed".[15] However, ancient Greek would more naturally express the pure negative as α- ("not").[51]Edmund Oscar von Lippmann conjectured a hypothetical Greek word ανθήμόνιον anthemonion, which would mean "floret", and cites several examples of related Greek words (but not that one) which describe chemical or biological efflorescence.[52]
The early uses of antimonium include the translations, in 1050–1100, by Constantine the African of Arabic medical treatises.[52] Several authorities believe antimonium is a scribal corruption of some Arabic form; Meyerhof derives it from ithmid;[53] other possibilities include athimar, the Arabic name of the metalloid, and a hypothetical as-stimmi, derived from or parallel to the Greek.[54]: 28
The standard chemical symbol for antimony (Sb) is credited to Jöns Jakob Berzelius, who derived the abbreviation from stibium.[55]
The ancient words for antimony mostly have, as their chief meaning, kohl, the sulfide of antimony.[56]
The Egyptians called antimony mśdmt[57]: 230 [58]: 541 or stm.[59]
The Arabic word for the substance, as opposed to the cosmetic, can appear as إثمدithmid, athmoud, othmod, or uthmod. Littré suggests the first form, which is the earliest, derives from stimmida, an accusative for stimmi.[54][60] The Greek word στίμμι (stimmi) is used by Attictragic poets of the 5th century BC, and is possibly a loan word from Arabic or from Egyptian stm.[59]
Production
Process
The extraction of antimony from ores depends on the quality and composition of the ore. Most antimony is mined as the sulfide; lower-grade ores are concentrated by froth flotation, while higher-grade ores are heated to 500–600 °C, the temperature at which stibnite melts and separates from the gangue minerals. Antimony can be isolated from the crude antimony sulfide by reduction with scrap iron:[61]
Sb 2S 3 + 3 Fe → 2 Sb + 3 FeS
The sulfide is converted to an oxide by roasting. The product is further purified by vaporizing the volatile antimony(III) oxide, which is recovered.[30] This sublimate is often used directly for the main applications, impurities being arsenic and sulfide.[62][63] Antimony is isolated from the oxide by a carbothermal reduction:[61][62]
In 2022, according to the US Geological Survey, China accounted for 54.5% of total antimony production, followed in second place by Russia with 18.2% and Tajikistan with 15.5%.[64]
Chinese production of antimony is expected to decline in the future as mines and smelters are closed down by the government as part of pollution control. Especially due to an environmental protection law having gone into effect in January 2015[65] and revised "Emission Standards of Pollutants for Stanum, Antimony, and Mercury" having gone into effect, hurdles for economic production are higher.
Reported production of antimony in China has fallen and is unlikely to increase in the coming years, according to the Roskill report. No significant antimony deposits in China have been developed for about ten years, and the remaining economic reserves are being rapidly depleted.[66]
For antimony-importing regions, such as Europe and the U.S., antimony is considered to be a critical mineral for industrial manufacturing that is at risk of supply chain disruption. With global production coming mainly from China (74%), Tajikistan (8%), and Russia (4%), these sources are critical to supply.[67][68]
European Union: Antimony is considered a critical raw material for defense, automotive, construction and textiles. The E.U. sources are 100% imported, coming mainly from Turkey (62%), Bolivia (20%) and Guatemala (7%).[67]
United States: Antimony is a mineral commodity considered critical to the economic and national security.[71][68] In 2022, no antimony was mined in the U.S.[72]
Antimony is mainly used as the trioxide for flame-proofing compounds, always in combination with halogenated flame retardants except in halogen-containing polymers. The flame retarding effect of antimony trioxide is produced by the formation of halogenated antimony compounds,[73] which react with hydrogen atoms, and probably also with oxygen atoms and OH radicals, thus inhibiting fire.[74] Markets for these flame-retardants include children's clothing, toys, aircraft, and automobile seat covers. They are also added to polyester resins in fiberglasscomposites for such items as light aircraft engine covers. The resin will burn in the presence of an externally generated flame, but will extinguish when the external flame is removed.[30][75]
Alloys
Antimony forms a highly useful alloy with lead, increasing its hardness and mechanical strength. When casting it increases fluidity of the melt and reduces shrinkage during cooling.[76] For most applications involving lead, varying amounts of antimony are used as alloying metal. In lead–acid batteries, this addition improves plate strength and charging characteristics.[30][77] For sailboats, lead keels are used to provide righting moment, ranging from 600 lbs to over 200 tons for the largest sailing superyachts; to improve hardness and tensile strength of the lead keel, antimony is mixed with lead between 2% and 5% by volume. Antimony is used in antifriction alloys (such as Babbitt metal),[78] in bullets and lead shot, electrical cable sheathing, type metal (for example, for linotype printing machines[79]), solder (some "lead-free" solders contain 5% Sb),[80] in pewter,[81] and in hardening alloys with low tin content in the manufacturing of organ pipes.
Other applications
Three other applications consume nearly all the rest of the world's supply.[61] One application is as a stabilizer and catalyst for the production of polyethylene terephthalate.[61] Another is as a fining agent to remove microscopic bubbles in glass, mostly for TV screens[82] – antimony ions interact with oxygen, suppressing the tendency of the latter to form bubbles.[83] The third application is pigments.[61]
Biology and medicine have few uses for antimony. Treatments containing antimony, known as antimonials, are used as emetics.[89] Antimony compounds are used as antiprotozoan drugs. Potassium antimonyl tartrate, or tartar emetic, was once used as an anti-schistosomal drug from 1919 on. It was subsequently replaced by praziquantel.[90] Antimony and its compounds are used in several veterinary preparations, such as anthiomaline and lithium antimony thiomalate, as a skin conditioner in ruminants.[91] Antimony has a nourishing or conditioning effect on keratinized tissues in animals.
Antimony-based drugs, such as meglumine antimoniate, are also considered the drugs of choice for treatment of leishmaniasis. Early treatments used antimony(III) species (trivalent antimonials), but in 1922 Upendranath Brahmachari invented a much safer antimony(V) drug, and since then so-called pentavalent antimonials have been the standard first-line treatment. However, Leishmania strains in Bihar and neighboring regions have developed resistance to antimony.[92] Elemental antimony as an antimony pill was once used as a medicine. It could be reused by others after ingestion and elimination.[93]
The powder derived from crushed antimony sulfide (kohl) has been used for millennia as an eye cosmetic. Historically it was applied to the eyes with a metal rod and with one's spittle, and was thought by the ancients to aid in curing eye infections.[101] The practice is still seen in Yemen and in other Muslim countries.[102]
Antimony and many of its compounds are toxic, and the effects of antimony poisoning are similar to arsenic poisoning. The toxicity of antimony is far lower than that of arsenic; this might be caused by the significant differences of uptake, metabolism and excretion between arsenic and antimony. The uptake of antimony(III) or antimony(V) in the gastrointestinal tract is at most 20%. Antimony(V) is not quantitatively reduced to antimony(III) in the cell (in fact antimony(III) is oxidised to antimony(V) instead[103]).
Since methylation of antimony does not occur, the excretion of antimony(V) in urine is the main way of elimination.[104] Like arsenic, the most serious effect of acute antimony poisoning is cardiotoxicity and the resulting myocarditis; however, it can also manifest as Adams–Stokes syndrome, which arsenic does not. Reported cases of intoxication by antimony equivalent to 90 mg antimony potassium tartrate dissolved from enamel has been reported to show only short term effects. An intoxication with 6 g of antimony potassium tartrate was reported to result in death after three days.[105]
Inhalation of antimony dust is harmful and in certain cases may be fatal; in small doses, antimony causes headaches, dizziness, and depression. Larger doses such as prolonged skin contact may cause dermatitis, or damage the kidneys and the liver, causing violent and frequent vomiting, leading to death in a few days.[106]
Certain compounds of antimony appear to be toxic, particularly antimony trioxide and antimony potassium tartrate.[115] Effects may be similar to arsenic poisoning.[116] Occupational exposure may cause respiratory irritation, pneumoconiosis, antimony spots on the skin, gastrointestinal symptoms, and cardiac arrhythmias. In addition, antimony trioxide is potentially carcinogenic to humans.[117]
Adverse health effects have been observed in humans and animals following inhalation, oral, or dermal exposure to antimony and antimony compounds.[115] Antimony toxicity typically occurs either due to occupational exposure, during therapy or from accidental ingestion. It is unclear if antimony can enter the body through the skin.[115] The presence of low levels of antimony in saliva may also be associated with dental decay.[118]
Notes
^The thermal expansion is anisotropic: the parameters (at 20 °C) for each crystal axis are αah = 8.24×10−6/K, αch = 16.62×10−6/K, and αaverage = αV/3 = 11.04×10−6/K.[3]
^Already in 1710 Wilhelm Gottlob Freiherr von Leibniz, after careful inquiry, concluded the work was spurious, there was no monk named Basilius Valentinus, and the book's author was its ostensible editor, Johann Thölde (c. 1565 – c. 1624). Professional historians now agree the Currus Triumphalis ... was written after the middle of the 16th century and Thölde was likely its author.[44] Harold Jantz was perhaps the only modern scholar to deny Thölde's authorship, but he too agrees the work dates from after 1550.[45]
^ abcArblaster, John W. (2018). Selected Values of the Crystallographic Properties of Elements. Materials Park, Ohio: ASM International. ISBN978-1-62708-155-9.
^David Kimhi's Commentary on Isaiah 4:30 and I Chronicles 29:2; Hebrew: פוך/כְּחֻל, Aramaic: כּוּחְלִי/צדידא; Arabic: كحل, and which can also refer to antimony trisulfide. See also Z. Dori, Antimony and Henna (Heb. הפוך והכופר), Jerusalem 1983 (Hebrew).
^Ashcheulov, A. A.; Manyk, O. N.; Manyk, T. O.; Marenkin, S. F.; Bilynskiy-Slotylo, V. R. (2013). "Some Aspects of the Chemical Bonding in Antimony". Inorganic Materials. 49 (8): 766–769. doi:10.1134/s0020168513070017. S2CID54954678.
^Shen, Xueyang; Zhou, Yuxing; Zhang, Hanyi; Derlinger, Volker L.; Mazzarello, Riccardo; Zhang, Wei (2023). "Surface effects on the crystallization kinetics of amorphous antimony". Nanoscale. 15 (37): 15259–15267. doi:10.1039/D3NR03536K. PMID37674458. S2CID261552619.
^ abLide, D. R., ed. (2001). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (82nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 4-4. ISBN0-8493-0482-2.
^Krebs, H.; Schultze-Gebhardt, F.; Thees, R. (1955). "Über die Struktur und die Eigenschaften der Halbmetalle. IX: Die Allotropie des Antimons". Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie (in German). 282 (1–6): 177–195. doi:10.1002/zaac.19552820121.
^ abc"Antimony" in Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 5th ed. 2004. ISBN978-0-471-48494-3
^ abWang, Chung Wu (1919). "The Chemistry of Antimony"(PDF). Antimony: Its History, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geology, Metallurgy, Uses, Preparation, Analysis, Production and Valuation with Complete Bibliographies. London, United Kingdom: Charles Geiffin and Co. Ltd. pp. 6–33. Archived(PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
^ abGodfrey, S. M.; McAuliffe, C. A.; Mackie, A. G. & Pritchard, R. G. (1998). Norman, Nicholas C. (ed.). Chemistry of arsenic, antimony, and bismuth. Springer. ISBN978-0-7514-0389-3.
^Long, G.; Stevens, J. G.; Bowen, L. H.; Ruby, S. L. (1969). "The oxidation number of antimony in antimony pentasulfide". Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry Letters. 5: 21. doi:10.1016/0020-1650(69)80231-X.
^Lees, R.; Powell, A.; Chippindale, A. (2007). "The synthesis and characterisation of four new antimony sulphides incorporating transition-metal complexes". Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids. 68 (5–6): 1215. Bibcode:2007JPCS...68.1215L. doi:10.1016/j.jpcs.2006.12.010.
^Shortland, A. J. (2006). "Application of Lead Isotope Analysis to a Wide Range of Late Bronze Age Egyptian Materials". Archaeometry. 48 (4): 657. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2006.00279.x.
^Vannoccio Biringuccio, De la Pirotechnia (Venice (Italy): Curtio Navo e fratelli, 1540), Book 2, chapter 3: Del antimonio & sua miniera, Capitolo terzo (On antimony and its ore, third chapter), pp. 27–28. [Note: Only every second page of this book is numbered, so the relevant passage is to be found on the 74th and 75th pages of the text.] (in Italian)
^Priesner, Claus; Figala, Karin, eds. (1998). Alchemie. Lexikon einer hermetischen Wissenschaft (in German). München: C.H. Beck. ISBN3406441068.
^"antimony". Britannica.com. 22 May 2024 [July 20, 1998]. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
^Fernando, Diana (1998). Alchemy: an illustrated A to Z. Blandford. ISBN9780713726688. Fernando connects the proposed etymology to the story of "Basil Valentine", although antimonium is found two centuries before Valentine's time.
^ abvon Lippmann, Edmund Oscar (1919) Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie, teil 1. Berlin: Julius Springer (in German). pp. 642–5
^Meyerhof as quoted in Sarton 1935, asserts that ithmid or athmoud became corrupted in the medieval "traductions barbaro-latines". The OED asserts some Arabic form is the origin, and if ithmid is the root, posits athimodium, atimodium, atimonium as intermediates.
^Jöns Jacob Berzelius, "Essay on the cause of chemical proportions, and on some circumstances relating to them: together with a short and easy method of expressing them," Annals of Philosophy, vol. 2, pages 443–454 (1813) and vol. 3, pages 51–62, 93–106, 244–255, 353–364 (1814). On p. 52, Berzelius lists the symbol for antimony as "St"; however, starting from p. 248, Berzelius consistently uses the symbol "Sb" instead.
^Albright, W. F. (1918). "Notes on Egypto-Semitic Etymology. II". The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures. 34 (4): 215–255. doi:10.1086/369866. JSTOR528157. S2CID170203738.
^Sarton, George (1935). "Review of Al-morchid fi'l-kohhl, ou Le guide d'oculistique (Translated by Max Meyerhof)". Isis (in French). 22 (2): 539-542. doi:10.1086/346926. JSTOR225136.
^Control of the leishmaniases: report of a meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on the Control of Leishmaniases, Geneva, 22-26 March 2010. World Health Organization. 2010. p. 1–2, 55, 67–68. ISBN978-92-4-120949-6.
^McCallum, R. I. (1999). Antimony in medical history: an account of the medical uses of antimony and its compounds since early times to the present. Pentland Press. ISBN978-1-85821-642-3.
^Jang, H & Kim, S. (2000). "The effects of antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3) and zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4) in the automotive brake friction material on friction". Journal of Wear. 239 (2): 229. doi:10.1016/s0043-1648(00)00314-8.
^Randich, Erik; Duerfeldt, Wayne; McLendon, Wade; Tobin, William (2002). "A metallurgical review of the interpretation of bullet lead compositional analysis". Forensic Science International. 127 (3): 174–91. doi:10.1016/S0379-0738(02)00118-4. PMID12175947. S2CID22272775.
^Rabbeinu Hananel (1995). "Rabbeinu Hananel's Commentary on Tractate Shabbat". In Metzger, David (ed.). Perushe Rabenu Ḥananʼel Bar Ḥushiʼel la-Talmud (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Mekhon 'Lev Sameaḥ'. p. 215 (Shabbat 109a). OCLC319767989.
^Foster, S.; Maher, W.; Krikowa, F.; Telford, K.; Ellwood, M. (2005). "Observations on the measurement of total antimony and antimony species in algae, plant and animal tissues". Journal of Environmental Monitoring. 7 (12): 1214–1219. doi:10.1039/b509202g. PMID16307074.
^ abShotyk, W.; Krachler, M.; Chen, B. (2006). "Contamination of Canadian and European bottled waters with antimony from PET containers". Journal of Environmental Monitoring. 8 (2): 288–92. doi:10.1039/b517844b. PMID16470261. S2CID9416637.