Anodic stripping voltammetric determination of antimony in gunshot residue

Anodic stripping voltammetry (a.s.v.) ata mercury film on a glassy carbon working electrode was utilized to determine the amount of antimony from hand swabs. The procedure described is useful for determining 10–120 ng of antimony found in the residue ou the hands of an individual suspected of discharging or handling a firearm. The voltammogram provides an elemental pattern recognizable as gunshot residue containing small amounts of antimony and much larger amounts of copper and lead. The amount of antimony in a variety of gunshot-residue samples was determined by both anodic stripping voltammetry and graphite-furnace atomic absorptiou spectrometry for comparison purposes. Anodic stripping voltammetry is excellent for observation of the multielement pattern which proves to be very useful for gunshot-residue samples.