Bismuth: Environmental Pollution and Health Effects

Although it has been used for centuries, bismuth remains one of the least understood elements in the periodic table. Metallic bismuth and bismuth compounds have been widely used in the manufacture of alloys, pigments, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. As a ‘green’ heavy metal, the substitution of lead with bismuth in some industries may partially resolve the environmental problems related to heavy metal pollution. In health care, as bismuth has low toxicity to humans, bismuth-based drugs such as colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS), ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC), bismuth subsalicylate (BSS), bismuth iodoform, and radioactive bismuth ((212)Bi/(213)Bi) complexes have been developed and used in clinics to treat various diseases. In most cases, bismuth therapies exhibit high therapeutic efficacies and little side effects; nevertheless, there are still reported cases of bismuth toxicity caused by bismuth over-dosage.