Sorption of antimony on human teeth

The study of the uptake of toxic elements on human teeth represents an interesting research area, as the fate of these elements when present in the human food is of health significance. Since antimony is one of the common toxic elements and since, the chemical behaviour of antimony is similar to that of arsenic, one of the most important toxic elements commonly encountered in cases of food poisoning, it has been decided to investigate its uptake on human teeth and on other restoration materials. The radioactive tracer technique was used to evaluate the concentration of antimony sorbed on teeth. This tracer was obtained by irradiation of antimony metal in the reactor, subsequent dissolution in concentrated sulphuric acid, evaporation to dryness and making the solution 6 M in Hydrochloric acid (1). Antimony prepared in this way is in the trivalent state (Sb III). Sorption was studied in water, tea, coffee, red tea and chicken soup. The highest sorption was achieved from water and chicken soup and least sorption was noticed in case of coffee. The results are presented in the form of the depletion of the radioactivity (A) of antimony with time in presence of a tooth in water and other drinks