Adsorptive stripping voltammetry of sex hormones at the static mercury drop electrode

Controlled adsorptive accumulation of testosterone, methyltestosterone and progesterone on the static mercury drop electrode provides the basis for direct stripping measurement of these compounds ar nanomolar concentrations. The adsorptive stripping behavior is evaluated with respect to preconcentration time and potential, stripping mode, concentration dependence, drop size and other variables. With 5-min accumulation, peak current enhancements of 45, 18 anal 12 are observed for 5 × 10^?8 M testosterone, progesterone and methyltestosterone, respectively, relative to direct pulse voltammetry. Detection limits are 1.6 × 10^?10 M for testosterone, 2 × 10^?10 M for progesterone and 3.3 × 10^?10 M for methyltestosterone with 15-min preconcentration. The relative standard deviation for 8 × 10^?8 M progesterone is 3.4% (n=8). Applicability to direct measurements of methyltestosterone in pharmaceutical formulations is assessed.