The determination of antimony in natural waters with particular reference to sea water

A procedure is described for the determination of antimony in natural waters at concentrations down to 0.1 μg/l or less. The element is concentrated by coprecipitation with hydrous manganese dioxide (produced by the reaction of permanganate with ethanol). It is separated from manganese, iron and interfering elements by extraction from 5 M sulphuric acid, 0.01 M with respect to iodide, using methyl isobutyl ketone. After back-extraction with 0.4 M hydrochloric acid, it is determined photometrically using rhodamine B. The overall chemical yield of the process is measured radiochemically and amounts to ca. 80%. Sea water samples from the Irish Sea were found to contain 0.13–0.40 μg Sb/l.