From its discovery in a remote Scottish village to its current role in cutting-edge quantum technologies, strontium has traced a remarkable path through scientific history. This silvery-white alkaline earth metal, named after the village of Strontian where it was first identified, has evolved from a mineralogical curiosity to an element crucial in industries ranging from pyrotechnics to precision timekeeping. The story of strontium reflects the broader narrative of chemistry’s development as a science, illuminating how a single element can bridge the gap between 18th-century mineral collecting and 21st-century atomic physics. Through sugar refining, television manufacturing, nuclear concerns, and optical atomic clocks, strontium’s journey demonstrates how scientific discovery often leads to applications far beyond what its discoverers could have imagined.

Be sure to check out all other critical raw materials (CRMs), as well.

A History Of Strontium

The history of strontium spans over two centuries, beginning with its discovery in the Scottish Highlands and extending to modern applications in quantum physics and precision measurement. From its early use in sugar production to its controversial role in nuclear fallout, and its current prominence in the world’s most accurate atomic clocks, strontium has played diverse and significant roles in science and technology. This chronology traces the element’s journey from a mineral curiosity to an essential component in advanced technologies.

Chronology

• 1722 – Sir Alexander Murray discovered galena in the hills around Strontian, Scotland, the location where strontium minerals would later be found [1]
• 1790 – Adair Crawford and William Cruickshank recognized that ores from Strontian exhibited properties different from other “heavy spars,” leading to strontium’s discovery [1, 2, 3]
• 1791 – Andreas Gotthelf Schütz named the strontium-containing mineral “fasriger schwerspath” [4]
• 1793 – Thomas Charles Hope studied the Strontian mineral and proposed the name “strontites” for the strontium-containing compound [1, 2, 3]
• 1797 – Martin Klaproth renamed the strontium mineral “schwefelsaurer strontianite aus Pennsylvania” [4]
• 1798 – Abraham Gottlieb Werner renamed the strontium mineral “zoelestin” (celestine) from the Greek for celestial [4]
• 1808 – Humphry Davy isolated metallic strontium by electrolysis of strontium chloride mixed with mercuric oxide on June 30 [1, 2, 3, 5, 6]
• 1849 – Augustin-Pierre Dubrunfaut patented a crystallisation process using strontium hydroxide for sugar production from sugar beets [7, 8]
• 1870 – Large-scale introduction of the strontian process using strontium hydroxide for sugar production began [3, 7]
• 1881 – Carl Scheibler obtained first patent for improved strontian process using strontium [7]
• 1882 – Carl Scheibler obtained second patent for strontian process using strontium [7]
• 1883 – Carl Scheibler obtained third patent for strontian process using strontium [7]
• 1884 – Mining of celestine (strontium sulfate) deposits began in Gloucestershire, England, supplying most of the world’s strontium until 1941 [3]
• 1910 – The Bristol Mineral and Land Company Limited was established as a brokerage for celestine (strontium sulfate) [9]
• 1945 – Strontium-90 was produced in atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a fission product [10]
• 1951 – First underground nuclear test produced strontium-90 as part of radioactive fallout [11]
• 1952 – First therapeutic use of stable strontium occurred when strontium lactate was administered to osteoporotic patients [12, 13]
• 1954 – The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission began measuring strontium-90 in healthy adult New York City residents [10]
• 1958 – Study of strontium-90 in 60,000 baby teeth in St. Louis area revealed rising levels from nuclear testing [10]
• 1961 – Baby Tooth Survey findings showing strontium-90 accumulation were circulated to President Kennedy [14, 15]
• 1963 – Children born in St. Louis had strontium-90 levels in teeth 50 times higher than those born in 1950 [14, 15]
• 1964 – Strontium-90 levels in the environment peaked after the Limited Test Ban Treaty [10]
• 1970 – Strontium oxide began being used in cathode ray tubes for television screens [16]
• 1986 – Chernobyl disaster released approximately 10 PBq of strontium-90 into the environment [14]
• 1994 – Commercial quarrying for celestine (strontium sulfate) ended in South Gloucestershire [9]
• 2004 – Study published showing strontium ranelate reduces vertebral fractures in osteoporotic women [17]
• 2006 – EPA amended regulations for recycling cathode ray tubes containing strontium [18]
• 2007 – LCD sales overtook sales of strontium-containing CRT displays [19]
• 2010 – NIST demonstrated optical clock using strontium achieving precision of 10^-17 [20]
• 2011 – Study showed elevated strontium-90 in teeth of cancer victims from nuclear fallout [21]
• 2013 – Optical lattice clocks using strontium atoms shown equal to caesium fountain clocks [22]
• 2014 – European Medicines Agency found strontium ranelate increased cardiovascular risks [23]
• 2015 – JILA strontium atomic clock achieved precision of one second in 15 billion years [24]
• 2016 – Two independent strontium lattice optical clocks compared at uncertainty of 5×10^-17 [20]
• 2017 – JILA reported 3D quantum gas strontium optical lattice clock with precision of 5×10^-19 [22]
• 2019 – Strontium ranelate returned to UK market in generic form [25]
• 2021 – JILA demonstrated strontium optical clock with differential frequency precision of 7.6×10^-21 [20]
• 2022 – Japan began using strontium optical lattice clock for Japan Standard Time [22]
• 2024 – JILA achieved systematic uncertainty of 8.1 × 10^-19 in strontium optical lattice clock [26, 27, 28]

Final Thoughts

The narrative of strontium exemplifies how scientific discovery often unfolds in unexpected directions. What began as a mineralogical oddity in a Scottish lead mine has become integral to technologies that define our modern world. From sweetening sugar to creating the brilliant reds in fireworks, from concerns about nuclear fallout to achieving unprecedented precision in timekeeping, strontium’s applications reflect humanity’s evolving technological capabilities and concerns.

Today, as strontium-based atomic clocks push the boundaries of measurement precision to levels that challenge our understanding of space and time itself, this element continues to surprise us. The journey from Crawford’s laboratory bench to quantum physics laboratories worldwide reminds us that fundamental research, driven by curiosity about the natural world, often yields benefits that transcend the imagination of those who first unlock nature’s secrets.

Thanks for reading!

References

[1] Early History of Strontium – https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4684-3698-3_1

[2] WebElements Periodic Table » Strontium » historical information – https://www.webelements.com/strontium/history.html

[3] Strontium – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strontium

[4] Celestine: Mineral information, data and localities – https://www.mindat.org/min-927.html

[5] Humphry Davy – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphry_Davy

[6] Sir Humphry Davy | Inventions, Biography, & Facts | Britannica – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sir-Humphry-Davy-Baronet

[7] Strontian process – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strontian_process

[8] Strontian – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strontian

[9] Minerals – SGMRG Website – https://sgmrg.co.uk/local-mining-history/minerals/

[10] Strontium 90 | Encyclopedia.com – https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/strontium-90

[11] Underground nuclear weapons testing – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_nuclear_weapons_testing

[12] Strontium-90 – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics – https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/strontium-90

[13] Frontiers | Microelement strontium and human health – https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2024.1367395/full

[14] Strontium-90 – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strontium-90

[15] Baby Tooth Survey – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Tooth_Survey

[16] Cathode-ray tube – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode-ray_tube

[17] The Effects of Strontium Ranelate on the Risk of Vertebral Fracture – https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa022436

[18] Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) | US EPA – https://www.epa.gov/hw/cathode-ray-tubes-crts

[19] The Story of the Cathode Ray Tube | Moores Glass – https://moores-glass.co.uk/cathode-ray-tube-story/

[20] Atomic clock – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_clock

[21] Elevated in vivo strontium-90 from nuclear weapons test fallout – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21319726/

[22] Optical clock – Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_clock

[23] Strontium Ranelate— Better Bones – https://www.betterbones.com/bone-nutrition/strontium-bone-drug-or-nutrient/amp/

[24] Getting Better All the Time: JILA Strontium Atomic Clock – https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2015/04/getting-better-all-time-jila-strontium-atomic-clock-sets-new-records

[25] Strontium Ranelate and Strontium Chloride Supplementation – https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/1/91

[26] An optical lattice clock based on strontium atoms – https://phys.org/news/2024-07-optical-lattice-clock-based-strontium.html

[27] Strontium Lattice Is Now the World’s Most Accurate Clock – https://www.optica-opn.org/home/newsroom/2024/july/strontium_lattice_is_now_the_world_s_most_accurate_clock/

[28] Physics – Reducing Uncertainty in an Optical Lattice Clock – https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/Physics.17.118