Water talk: Antimony in drinking water

We have developed a guideline value for antimony in drinking water to protect the health of Canadians. Learn about the health effects of antimony and how to reduce your exposure if it is present in your drinking water.

On this page

• Antimony in drinking water
• Health effects of antimony in drinking water
• How to reduce your exposure to antimony in drinking water
• Limit for antimony in drinking water in Canada
• Contact us

Antimony in drinking water

Antimony is low in most Canadian drinking water supplies. Higher concentrations of antimony can be found in groundwater and surface water in areas where antimony occurs naturally. However, elevated concentrations of antimony are likely to occur only in a limited number of drinking water systems in Canada.

Testing is the only way to know if you have elevated levels of antimony in your drinking water. If you’re interested in testing your drinking water for antimony, especially if you have a private well, you should contact your municipality or local public health authority for advice and assistance.

Antimony is a naturally occurring chemical, but can also enter the environment from coal combustion, mining and smelting, emissions from motor vehicles as well as from the use of fire retardants, pharmaceuticals and pesticides. It can be present in:

• food
• water
• air
• certain products, such as:
• flame retardants
• pesticides
• pharmaceuticals
• consumer products

Health effects of antimony in drinking water

Drinking water that contains high levels of antimony may affect the liver and gastrointestinal system. Other health effects that have been reported include kidney, cardiovascular, metabolic, and developmental effects.

If you have concerns about your drinking water or health, contact your public drinking water authority or public health authority for more information.

How to reduce your exposure to antimony in drinking water

Antimony will not enter the body through the skin or by breathing in vapours while showering or bathing. Bathing and showering in water that contains antimony should not be a health risk.

Although there are no residential treatment devices certified specifically for antimony removal, reverse osmosis or distillation units may be capable of removing it. These are installed directly at the tap (point of use).

To make sure the treatment unit is working, you regularly test:

• the water at the tap
• the water entering the treatment unit

Make sure that any unit or system you buy is:

• certified as meeting the NSF International standard, NSF/ANSI Standard 58 (reverse osmosis) or Standard 62 (distillation)
• even if no residential treatment device is certified specifically to remove antimony, this standard ensures the safety and performance of the device
• installed, maintained and replaced according to the instructions given by the manufacturer

If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or preparing infant formula

If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or preparing infant formula and suspect that your drinking water may contain antimony, you should have it tested. If antimony levels are above the guideline value, you may wish to:

• find an alternate source of drinking water, or
• install a treatment device to remove antimony

Limit for antimony in drinking water in Canada

We have technical documents for various contaminants (the guidelines) that set out the basic parameters for every water authority in Canada. The parameters help water authorities achieve the cleanest, safest and most reliable drinking water possible.

Learn about the guidelines:

• Guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality for antimony

We worked with provinces and territories to establish a maximum level of antimony recommended for drinking water. The maximum acceptable concentration is 0.006 milligrams per litre (mg/L). This level takes into consideration the protection of health and treatment challenges of private wells and small systems.

Contact us

If you have questions about the guidelines or antimony in drinking water, you can contact us by:

• phone: 1-833-223-1014 (toll free)
• email: water-eau@hc-sc.gc.ca

Health Canada does not give advice on individual situations, including medical and health concerns.

For medical problems, questions or concerns, contact your health care provider (your family doctor or a health clinic).

For water quality concerns, testing and interpreting results, contact your municipal service provider, local drinking water or public health authority.