Subchronic and Chronic Inhalation Toxicity of Antimony Trioxide in the Rat

Subchronic feeding study of antimony trioxide in rats

“…This 'lung overload' phenomenon is now well characterized, is seen with a wide range of insoluble dusts and appears to be specific to the rat and not other experimental species, and consequently is considered to be of doubtful significance for human exposure. 14 More recent studies, 6 conducted to modern standards and resulting in lower lung burdens of antimony trioxide, failed to reproduce the effect although an increased incidence of eye opacities was reported at the highest concentration (24 mg m Ϫ3 ). The lack of significant systemic effects of antimony trioxide in the current study is consistent with the results from the recent inhalation studies, and the absence of any ocular toxicity in the current study at these high feeding doses supports a view that such lesions in the inhalation studies were either spontaneous in aetiology or were related to the method of administration of antimony trioxide.…”

“…3 This has been justified by early inhalation experiments in which rats exposed to antimony trioxide by inhalation developed lung tumours at moderate doses, 4,5 although these studies did not conform to current guidelines for assessment of the chronic toxicity of a substance. More recent studies 6 failed to reproduce the effect. The reason for this was not established but differences in inhaled dose in conjunction with the pulmonary response of the rat lung to inhaled insoluble particles are considered to be contributory factors.…”

Concentration distributions of dissolved Sb(III) and Sb(V) species in size-classified inhalable airborne particulate matter

“…Many animal experiments examining the effects of the inhalation exposure to particulate Sb(III) species have revealed potential risks of the occurrence of adverse effects on respiratory and/or cardiovascular systems. [21][22][23] Although the currently available data on the carcinogenicity of Sb compounds can be regarded as inconclusive, epidemiological studies on individuals who were occupationally exposed to Sb compounds have demonstrated greater risks of death by various types of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and cerebrovascular diseases than individuals from the control groups. 24,25 Therefore, the inhalation exposure to Sb compounds, which was mainly caused by the inhalation of APM, can be considered to be one of the most important routes enhancing the health risks of this element.…”