Antimony in the environment: knowns and unknowns

The objective of the present article is to present a critical overview of issues related to the current state of knowledge on the behaviour of antimony in the environment. It makes no attempt to systematically review all published data. However, it does provide a list of the main published reviews on antimony and identifies subjects where systematic reviews are needed. Areas where our knowledge is strong – and the corresponding gaps – in subjects ranging from total concentrations and speciation in the various environmental compartments, to ecotoxicity, to cycling between compartments, are discussed, along with the underlying research. Determining total antimony no longer poses a problem for most environmental samples but speciation measurements remain challenging throughout the process, from sampling to analysis. This means that the analytical tools still need to be improved but experience shows that, to be useful in practice, this should be directly driven by the requirements of laboratory and field measurements. Many different issues can be identified where further research is required, both in the laboratory and in the field, the most urgently needed studies probably being: (i) long-term spatial and temporal studies in the different environmental compartments in order to collect the data needed to establish a global biogeochemical cycle; (ii) laboratory studies of antimony interactions with potential natural binders; (iii) reliable ecotoxicological studies. Montserrat Filella is a chemist and teaches Environmental Chemistry at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her main research interests focus on the understanding of the physicochemical processes regulating the behaviour of chemical components in environmental and biological compartments, mainly by combining computer modelling with field and laboratory measurements. The three main axes of her research concern the study of: colloids in natural waters, natural organic matter (quantification and interaction with trace elements) and Group 15 elements. She is also interested in other topics such the relationship between music and chemistry and is active in science popularisation activities. Pete Williams is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Western Sydney. His principal research interests concern the geochemistry and chemical mineralogy of the supergene environment, the structure and properties of optically active coordination compounds and the nature of non-classical weak bonding in complex molecules. In 2003, a new mineral, petewilliamsite, was named in recognition of his contributions to mineralogy, both in teaching and research. He is currently the Chairman of the International Mineralogical Association’s Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification. Nelson Belzile is an analytical and environmental chemist with several years of experience in the fields of geochemistry and limnology. He is a Professor at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, where he teaches environmental and analytical chemistry. He is also an invited professor at the Trent University of Peterborough and at three Chinese universities. He has published more than 70 scientific papers, most of them dealing with the determination, speciation and geochemistry of hydrideor vapour-forming elements such as As, Se, Hg and Sb in both marine and freshwater systems. © CSIRO 2009 95 1448-2517/09/020095