Strategies for Assessing the Limit of Detection in Voltammetric Methods: Comparison and Evaluation of Approaches

The realm of analytical chemistry continues to struggle with defining and evaluating the limit of detection in analytical methods in the sense that a multitude of definitions, criteria, caveats, and methods have been proposed, developed, and adopted across disciplines. The last decade has seen a surge in the growth of electrochemical methods and studies in the field of forensic science and forensic chemistry. While many disciplines within forensic science have established method validation guidelines, the historical and current lack of electrochemical methods within forensic laboratories throughout the United States has left a major gap in knowledge, inhibiting the adoption and utilization of electrochemistry, which may serve as a powerful tool in many subdisciplines of forensics. As such, this work begins this discussion by focusing first on the limit of detection (LOD), with application toward both qualitative and quantitative methods. Both inorganic (ferrocyanide and lead) and organic (diphenylamine, naltrexone, and acetaminophen) target analytes were analyzed