Draft technical document guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality - Antimony: Exposure considerations

Canadians can be exposed to antimony via food, drinking water, air and consumer products. Exposure to antimony trioxide and antimony containing substances (11 inorganic compounds) has been assessed previously (Environment Canada and Health Canada, 2010; ECCC and Health Canada, 2020). This section builds on those exposure assessments. Exposure to antimony through environmental media, food and water is expected to be low with average daily intakes of total antimony estimated at 0.019 to 0.057 µg/kg body weight (bw) per day and the highest intake (that is, 0.27 µg/kg bw per day) estimated in infants aged up to 6 months. Food (including breast milk and beverages; range 68% to 80%) and, to a lesser extent, drinking water (range 17% to 29%) have been identified as the main contributors for exposure (ECCC and Health Canada, 2020). Based on these estimated daily intakes, a source allocation factor of 30% is considered appropriate for drinking water.