Determination of barium and antimony in gun shot residues by neutron activation analysis

The antimony contents on both hands of 7 persons before and after firing an automatic pistol were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The gun shot residues were removed from hands by a 4% solution of cellulose acetate in acetone. The average content of antimony on both hands before firing obtained from 70 measurements (35 from each hand) was 0.040 ± 0.010 micro gram, whereas the average contents on the right and the left hands after 1 firing were 0.385 ± 0.036 and 0.144 ± 0.029 micro gram respectively. The ration of the antimony contents after 1 firing to the normal level (before firing) was 9.9 for the right and 3.6 for the left. No significant difference was observed between male and female, smoker and non-smoker. The antimony content after several firings was not much different from that of 1 firing and it reduced to the normal level within 2 days after firing. The barium contents before and after firing were studied from one person. Barium was precipitated as Ba SO4 before counting. An average contents of 0.936 ± 0.551 micro gram for both hands before firing, 4.092 ± 2.687 micro gram for the right hand and 1.363 ± 0.879 micro gram for the left hand after 1 firing were found