Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' New Approaches to Laboratory Support for Control over Non-Proliferation

The development of scientific research methods and dual-use production technologies, the widening of the range of new toxic chemicals, as well as technical possibilities for the development of a new generation of poisonous substances, formally not forbidden by the acting Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, pose a new level of threats to nonproliferation of chemical weapons. Under these circumstances, it is necessary to possess not only legal possibility, but also appropriate laboratory equipment and services for the effective non-proliferation control. Considerable attention in this sphere has been paid earlier to environmental samples for toxic chemicals analysis, including samples of air, soil, vegetation and water. But at the present time the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) gives special emphasis to analysis of biomedical samples (blood, urine) in the context of non-proliferation and investigations of alleged use of chemical weapons and toxic chemicals. The proper sensitivity during the detection and identification of biomarkers of exposure to chemical agents and toxic chemicals can be achieved by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS) methods. Efforts in this sphere are now focused on three main tasks – sample preparation, the optimization of the conditions of chromatographic separation of samples, storage and interpretation of mass-spectra characteristics. The article provides examples of how the above mentioned techniques are used in the detection of signs and evidence of exposure to organic phosphorus compounds and sulfur mustard.

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