Antimony pollution in China

Antimony (Sb) is ubiquitous throughout the environment as a result of natural processes and human activities. In China, superlarge-, large and medium-sized Sb deposits are concentrated in the Guangxi (34.4%), Hunan (21.2%), Yunnan (12.2%) and Guizhou (10.2%) provinces. Due to Sb mining and smelting processes, large quantities of Sb have been released resulting in serious Sb contamination of the local environments. Furthermore, coal combustion and Sb products consumed by the domestic market are also important potential Sb contamination sources. Here, an integrated overview of the current knowledge on the distribution of Sb in Chinese environments and the human health risk with respect to Sb contamination in Chinese mining and smelting areas are presented. The average Sb concentrations found in soils were divided into three groups. Group 1 had lower Sb concentrations of 0.5–1.5mgkg⁻¹, Group 2 had medium concentrations of 1.5–2mgkg⁻¹, and Group 3 had relatively high concentrations of over 2mgkg⁻¹. Soils from the Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou and Hunan provinces were extremely enriched in Sb. Data on the sediment and water mainly came from the Yangtze River water systems and some mining and smelting areas. The Sb concentrations in sediments were of the order of a few mgkg⁻¹. In water, Sb was mainly concentrated in the particle matter. Higher concentrations in water (up to 29.4mgL⁻¹) and sediments (up to 1163mgkg⁻¹) were mainly limited to the proximity of mining and smelting areas than the faraway places (<5.00mgL⁻¹ for water and <3.00mgkg⁻¹ for sediments, respectively). Plants growing in these contaminated soils accumulated high levels of Sb (up to 143.7mgkg⁻¹) and exceeded the tolerable concentration (5mgkg⁻¹), thus threatening the health of local inhabitants. The local environments around Sb mining and smelting areas were seriously contaminated.