The eyeliner that mosidly became fatal

Was the antimony that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart the Das omed? Administered by his own doctor? The British doctor, pharmacologist and music lover Ian James was convinced of this. He revealed his theory in October 1991, 200 years after Mozart’s death, in a speech for the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine he founded.

Mozart had rheumatism and in the 18th century antimony was part of the usual treatment against this, James argued. The side effects that are the death of the composer would fit in with antimony poisoning: fainting, swollen hands and feet, depression, exhaustion, pale skin, purulent wounds and kidney damage.

Antimoon (number 51 in the periodic system) is a brittle metal and is mainly extracted from the mineral stibnite. There is also the symbol for the element derived: SB. Grounded to a black powder, Stibniet was already used in ancient Egypt to draw black lines around the eyes.

Antimoon is toxic but has been used for a long time to heal. Medieval medicine revolved around the balance of four life juices: blood, mucus, yellow bile and black bile. Antimoon pills were used as a laxative and to generate vomiting. The pills were expensive, so after they had left the body they were washed and reused. Such a pill even applied as an heirloom.

The pills later fell into disuse, but the idea that Antimoon was good to drive out disease. In the 17^one century the idea was applied by leaving wine in a cup of Antimoon for a night and then drinking it. Now Antimoon only plays a role in anthroposophical medicine, for example, stibium ointment is for sale as a means against hemorrhoids.

Nowadays, Antimoon is used as a fire retardant in plastics, such as in fire -resistant polyester clothing. In the 90s, social unrest arose around antimony. Antimoon would cause cot death in mattress protectors, but this connection was later invalidated. A decade later, the presence of antimony in clothing and toys again became controversial by a report Van Greenpeace, even though the amounts found remained within the limit.

The fact that a toxic substance is in a product does not mean that it is also a risk to health. It is about the dose that you get. In the everyday environment, the risk of antimony poisoning is minimal, shows Overview studies. Firefighters who constantly wear clothing with a lot of antimony also appeared to have no risky quantities in their bodies.

Finally, about Mozart. He died in 1791 at the age of 35 in Vienna. Since then, countless theories have since been suggested. In response to James’ antimony theory, an Australian doctor came up with the suggestion that Mozart died of a streptococcal infection. At that time, many people suffered from this in Vienna, and Mozart was simply susceptible to diseases. According to a wilder theory, Mozart would be poisoned by his rival, Antonio Salieri. That story was given popularity through the film Amadeus from 1984. But definitive evidence – for any of the theories – is still missing.

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