Abstract

AIM: To establish a reference range for antimony in the serum and urine of infants in the first year of life. METHODS: 100 infants were selected randomly from the population. Each infant had a single blood and urine sample taken. Antimony was assayed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. RESULTS: The reference range for antimony in the serum of infants in the first year of life was established as 0.09-0.25 microgram/l. The upper 95% centile for urinary antimony, corrected for creatinine, in the same population was 2.6 ng/mg creatinine. There was a very weak correlation between the serum and urine concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the presence of low concentrations of antimony in the serum and urine of healthy infants.