Thanks to Babbel, a language learning  app, for sponsoring this episode.

If you’re interested in  growing your language skills,   SciShow viewers get up to 65% off with a 20  day money-back guarantee when you use our link. [ ♪ INTRO ] Nature can make some pretty brutal toxins— things you don’t want to touch, eat, inhale, or really have anything to do with. And as far as toxins go, the element antimony is a triple-threat: It can harm you whether you  swallow it, breathe it in, or absorb it through your skin.

So it might not exactly sound like something  you’d want to welcome into your life. But as it happens, this particular toxin  isn’t just harmful: It’s also useful… and it could even save your life. Antimony is number 51 on the periodic table.

It’s not a metal, but it’s  not not a metal, either. It’s officially called a metalloid, which means it looks like  metal but isn’t as strong. And as humans, our relationship with antimony is…complicated.

That’s partly because its harmful effects  on the human body are well-documented. For one, it’s poisonous if  you swallow it or inhale it. Research has associated antimony with eye, skin, and lung irritation after short-term exposures.

Long-term exposure has also been linked  with lung disease, heart problems, and gastrointestinal issues. And just to put a cherry on top,  it can also mess with cells’ DNA and cause cancer. So, there are plenty of good  reasons to be wary of it.

But it’s hard to completely  cut antimony out of our lives because it also has lots of useful properties. In particular, it’s durable, it’s tough,  and when it's combined with other elements, it can make things fire-resistant. For instance, today it's used to add fire  resistance to products like flexible PVC, which is a type of plastic you can find  in certain types of flooring and plumbing… and even rain boots.

Those chemical properties also make it an important  ingredient in everyday products like batteries, ceramics, and certain paints. And it’s used as a catalyst in the chemical  reactions that produce polyester fabrics   and the clear, lightweight plastic  that’s used for bottled water. So it’s basically everywhere, especially because anytime it’s used  as a catalyst for chemical reactions, some small fraction typically  makes it into the product itself.

Fortunately, health officials say small  amounts aren’t enough to harm you. And while there’s not a ton  of research on the topic, the amount of antimony in our everyday products is typically considered “small” enough to be safe. But we don’t just keep antimony  around for its practical uses.

For thousands of years, people have known antimony not just as a toxin but as a healer. Ancient Egyptians were known to swallow a compound made of antimony and sulfur  to treat flatworm infections. Meanwhile, across the Mediterranean, the Ancient Greeks used it as a skin medication.

And in the Middle Ages,  Europeans used antimony too, both as a laxative and to induce vomiting. Which doesn’t quite square with its reputation as a toxin that can ravage the body  in all sorts of different ways. But antimony actually is  both a toxin and a healer.

While not all ancient remedies have aged  well as we’ve learned more about medicine, and you shouldn’t try those treatments at home, some of the science behind the use of antimony for healing has held up. For instance, the stuff  actually is anti-parasitic. Scientists don’t exactly know how it works, but one theory suggests  that antimony may interfere with parasites’ ability to produce  the compounds they need to survive.

Other researchers think antimony might  help kick your immune response into gear. Either way, those Ancient Egyptian  doctors were on to something when they prescribed antimony  to treat intestinal worms. Even today, antimony is used to treat  the parasitic disease Leishmaniasis, which kills around 20,000 to 40,000 people a year.

And while too much antimony  would mess up a person’s stomach, a small dose can induce  vomiting or act as a laxative. Modern research has also found that antimony seems to have anti-tumor properties. Again, researchers aren’t  exactly sure how it works.

It might work against cancer  cells in a few different ways. One idea is that it may block a certain  protein that helps cancer cells spread. In the case of leukemia, studies have suggested that it disrupts an enzyme  that helps cancer cells grow.

Whatever the mechanism is,  laboratory studies have shown that antimony does have medicinal properties. It’s been shown to inhibit the growth  of stomach and breast cancer cells. It’s also had a positive effect on people  with at least one type of leukemia.

Which means that, oddly enough, this toxin that can cause  cancer could also help treat it. And that seems to sum up antimony: It’s an element that can both take lives and save lives, depending  on how we interact with it. It’s not to say that the healing won’t come with some unpleasant side effects.

But if we use it wisely, this unusual toxin can be an  extremely useful part of our lives. Thank you to Babbel for sponsoring  this episode of SciShow! Babbel is a language learning app  that helps you use a new language in real-life situations after  only five hours of practice.

Babbel is the #1 language  learning app in the world and currently offers 14 different languages. Learning a new language requires  a lot of time and commitment, which makes it tough to  quickly get into conversations. So their lessons are designed  by real language teachers and focus on practical conversations  to help you get started quickly.

And since everyone learns differently, they offer interactive lessons,  podcasts, games, videos, and live classes with top teachers. So whether you’re planning a trip and would like to learn  directions in the local language or want to watch YouTube videos from  all over the world, Babbel can help. As a SciShow viewer, you’ll get up 65%  off when you sign up using our link.

Plus Babbel comes with a 20  day money back guarantee, so you can see where Babbel takes  you on our language learning journey. Thanks so much for watching! [ ♪ outro ]