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 select
ed randomly from the population. Each infant had a single blood and ur
ine sample taken. Antimony was assayed using inductively coupled plasm
a mass spectrometry. Results-The reference range for antimony in the s
erum of infants in the first year of life was established as 0.09-0.25
mu g/l. The upper 95% centile for urinary antimony, corrected for cre
atinine, in the same population was 2.6 ng/mg creatinine. There was a
very weak correlation between the serum and urine concentrations. Conc
lusions-This study confirms the presence of low concentrations of anti
mony in the serum and urine of healthy infants.