Rising levels of antimony contamination in the northern hemisphere could be due to increased industrial usage, say scientists.

Bill Shotyk and colleagues at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, have detected ultra-low concentrations of antimony in ice cores from Devon Island, Arctic Canada, going back 160 years. 

The team was surprised to discover a rise in antimony contamination in the ice cores, despite a decrease in other elements such as lead over the same period. As cores were taken from an area with no naturally occurring antimony, the rise is indicative of its increased industrial usage since the second world war.

Antimony is released into the environment from copper and lead smelting and is found in materials such as plastics, flame retardants and car brake-pads. The element is potentially toxic as it has no biological function, yet little is known about its presence in the environment.

'Antimony has been off the radar screen, until now,' said Shotyk. The researchers, concerned about the lack of knowledge on antimony, organised a workshop on antimony in the environment in 2005. They were surprised to receive more than 60 attendees, all working separately on the same problem. 'Having recognised the scale of contamination, we now need to know if antimony really is as toxic as we think it could be,' Shotyk warned.