Medical uses
Sodium thiosulfate is used in the treatment of cyanide poisoning.[3] Other uses include topical treatment of ringworm and tinea versicolor,[3][5] and treating some side effects of hemodialysis[6] and chemotherapy.[7]
Photographic Processing
Silver halides, e.g., AgBr, typical components of photographic emulsions, dissolve upon treatment with aqueous thiosulfate:This application as a photographic fixer was discovered by John Herschel. It is used for both film and photographic paper processing; the sodium thiosulfate is known as a photographic fixer, and is often referred to as 'hypo', from the original chemical name, hyposulphite of soda.[8] Ammonium thiosulfate is typically preferred to sodium thiosulfate for this application.[2]
Gold Extraction
Sodium thiosulfate and ammonium thiosulfate are a component of an alternative lixiviants to cyanide for extraction of gold.[9][2] Thiosulfate forms strong soluble complexes with gold(I) ions, [Au(S
2O
3)
2]3−. The advantages of this approach are that (i) thiosulfate is essentially nontoxic and (ii) that ore types that are refractory to gold cyanidation (e.g. carbonaceous or Carlin-type ores) can be leached by thiosulfate. Some problems with this alternative process include the high consumption of thiosulfate, and the lack of a suitable recovery technique, since [Au(S
2O
3)
2]3− does not adsorb to activated carbon, which is the standard technique used in gold cyanidation to separate the gold complex from the ore slurry.
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