Gebel T
Medical Institute of General Hygiene and Environmental Health, University of Goettingen, Germany.
Chem Biol Interact. 1997 Nov 28;107(3):131-44. doi: 10.1016/s0009-2797(97)00087-2.
A chemico-toxicological similarity between arsenic and antimony exists and their toxicology is often seen. Indeed, both elements possess several common properties, e.g. they are clastogenic but not mutagenic in the trivalent state and they have a carcinogenic potential: trivalent arsenicals are known to be human carcinogens and antimony(III) oxide (by inhalation) has been shown to cause lung cancer in female rats. For years, arsenic has been known to be environmentally toxic. Elevated human exposure to this element, mostly caused by the intake of contaminated tap water, is associated with increased incidences of cancer at various sites. It is still not clear how arsenic compounds exert their genotoxic effect. It may be connected with an inhibition of DNA repair or the induction of oxidative stress. Little work has been done on the toxicology of antimony as it is less widely present in the environment. There is evidence that in mammals antimony, unlike arsenic, is not detoxified via methylation but it still remains unclear what mechanism is responsible for antimony's genotoxicity. In general, there is little information known about this element to accurately determine its impact on human health. Thus, the aim of this paper is to review current knowledge for future risk assessment and further scientific work.
砷和锑之间存在化学毒理学相似性，且它们的毒理学现象屡见不鲜。事实上，这两种元素具有若干共同特性，例如它们在三价状态下具有致断裂性但无致突变性，并且具有致癌潜力：已知三价砷化合物是人类致癌物，而三氧化二锑（通过吸入）已被证明可导致雌性大鼠患肺癌。多年来，人们一直知道砷具有环境毒性。人体对这种元素的暴露增加，主要是由于摄入受污染的自来水，这与各个部位癌症发病率的上升有关。目前尚不清楚砷化合物是如何发挥其基因毒性作用的。这可能与DNA修复的抑制或氧化应激的诱导有关。由于锑在环境中的存在不太广泛，因此关于锑的毒理学研究较少。有证据表明，在哺乳动物中，锑与砷不同，不会通过甲基化进行解毒，但目前仍不清楚是什么机制导致锑具有基因毒性。总体而言，关于这种元素的信息很少，无法准确确定其对人类健康的影响。因此，本文的目的是回顾现有知识，以便进行未来的风险评估和进一步的科学研究。
