Applicability of anodic-stripping voltammetry and graphite furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry to the determination of antimony in biological matrices: a comparative study

Abstract

Both anodic-stripping voltammetry (ASV) and graphite furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry (ETA-AAS) were used to measure levels of antimony in biological samples such as whole blood, urine and mosquito larvae. Depending on the kind of sample or technique used, the sample treatment consisted of an acid digestion or simple dilution with water. In ASV determination, interferences from foreign ions (Cu, Fe and Zn) were studied. In ETA-AAS, different furnace programmes and different types of graphite tubes were tried. The calibrations were always performed both by running adequate antimony standards and by the standard additions method.