Barium nitrate fighters, such as the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire, during the Battle of Britain. It is also used in the manufacturing process of barium oxide, the vacuum tube industry and for green fire in pyrotechnics. Like all soluble barium compounds, barium nitrate is toxic by ingestion or inhalation. Solutions of sulfate salts such as Epsom salts or sodium sulfate may be given as first aid for barium poisoning, as they precipitate the barium as the insoluble (and non-toxic) barium sulfate. Inhalation may also cause irritation to the respiratory tract. While skin or eye contact is less harmful than ingestion or
Barium a metal or when alloyed with aluminium, is used to remove unwanted gases (gettering) from vacuum tubes, such as TV picture tubes. Barium is suitable for this purpose because of its low vapor pressure and reactivity towards oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water; it can even partly remove noble gases by dissolving them in the crystal lattice. This application is gradually disappearing due to the rising popularity of the tubeless LCD and plasma sets. Other uses of elemental barium are minor and include an additive to silumin (aluminium–silicon alloys) that refines their structure, as well as Barium sulfate (the mineral