which affects 12 million people worldwide, and 1.5–2 million
new cases of leishmaniasis are estimated to occur annually
[6]. Treatment with antimonial drugs is the preferred method
of fighting off this disease. The first generation of antimonial
drugs contained trivalent antimony. However, despite its clinical
benefits, because of its toxic side effects, a second generation
of antimonial drugs was developed based on pentavalent
antimony.
Environmental measurements of antimony levels are normally
carried out by conventional analytical techniques such
as atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), inductively coupled
plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and inductively
coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). These
techniques are impractical for on-site screening or for quantification
as part of a decision tool owing to their size and high
labour and analytical costs. Hence, there is a need for portable
analytical systems that can be met by using electrochemical
methods [7].Voltammetric methods are among the electrochemical
techniques described for the analysis of antimony. These
are relatively widespread and, due to their accuracy and sensitivity,
have contributed greatly to its determination at trace level
[8]. Adsorptive stripping voltammetry has also been used in the
determination of antimony following adsorptive accumulation
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